Compressing the temporal correlation of two photons to the monocycle regime (3.56 fs, center wavelength: 1064 nm)
is expected to open up new perspectives in quantum metrology, allowing applications such as submicron quantum
optical coherence tomography and novel nonlinear optical experiments. To achieve this, the two-photon state must
essentially be ultra-broadband in the frequency domain and ultra-short in the time domain. Here, we report the successful generation of such ultra-broadband, frequency-correlated two-photon states via type-0, cw-pumped (532 nm) spontaneous parametric down conversion using four PPMgSLT crystals with different chirp rates of their poling periods. For the collinear condition, single-photon spectra are detected using a Si-CCD and an InGaAs photodiode array with a monochromator, while for a noncollinear condition, an NbN meander-type superconducting single photon detector (SNSPD) and an InP/GaAs photomultiplier tube (PMT) with a laser line Bragg tunable bandpass
filter are used. The broadband sensitivity of the SNSPD and PMT in the near-infrared wavelength range enable singleshot observations with a maximum bandwidth of 820 nm among the four samples. Such spectra can in principle achieve a temporal correlation as short as 1.2 cycles (4.4 fs) with the use of appropriate phase compensation, which can be measured using the sum-frequency signal. We also discuss several detection strategies for measuring coincidence counts in the presence of wavelength-dependent optical elements as a step towards frequency correlation measurements.
KEYWORDS: Luminescence, Single photon detectors, Superconductors, Fiber couplers, Linear filtering, Signal detection, Mid-IR, Single mode fibers, Absorption, Nanowires
Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPD) have unique characteristics of ultra low dark counts and
wide spectrum sensitivity. These natures are indispensable for the evaluation of ultra-broadband parametric fluorescence,
which are used for the quantum optical coherence tomography and novel optical non-linear experiments. Here we report
the spectral dependence of the detection efficiency of a meander type SNSPD device, having reduced strip width of 50 nm, over a wide spectrum range up to near infra-red wavelength. The fiber coupled, meander type device was
fabricated using 6 nm thick Niobium nitride (NbN) nanowires of reduced strip width, 50 nm, patterned over a MgO
substrate with active area of 10 x 10 μm2. A maximum efficiency of 32% at 500 nm, 30% at 600 nm, 16% at 800 nm,
10% at 1000 nm, and 1% at 1550 nm with the normalized bias current of 0.95 (bias 37 μA ) was observed at 4.2 K. The
salient feature of the device is, it exhibits a very low dark count rate (DCR) of only 2 Hz at the standard operating bias of
37 μA and ultra low DCR of 0.01Hz at 34 μA. Moreover, at this reduced bias with 0.01Hz DCR, the detection efficiency
is not appreciably decreased in the visible region (32% at 500 nm and 30% at 600 nm) and an order decrease is observed
(0.1%) at 1550 nm. The noise equivalent power (NEP) is of the order 10-19WHz-1/2 in the visible region and 10-17 WHz-
1/2 in the near IR region. Ultra-broad band parametric fluorescence of band width from 791 nm to 1610 nm generated by
a quasi-phase matched (QPM) device was successfully detected with this SSPD.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) based on Michelson interferometer has widely been utilized in biology and
medicine as a type of optical biopsy and quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) based on Hong-Ou-Mandel
interferometer has recently been demonstrated. By use of quantum entangled photon pairs generated via spontaneous
parametric down conversion (SPDC) process, axial resolution of QOCT can be better than that of OCT in principle for a
source of same bandwidth and group velocity dispersion (GVD) effect for QOCT can be automatically cancelled thanks
to the frequency correlation of entangled photon pairs.
To realize high-resolution QOCT, we need a broadband quantum entangled photon pair source. Then we proposed a
novel conventional method to generate broadband spontaneous parametric fluorescence via SPDC by using multiple
nonlinear crystals pumped by a CW laser. Our method has controllability to tune the center frequency of generated
photons and scalability to extend the number of crystals. This conventional method can enable us to achieve sub-micron
axial resolution of QOCT.
An ultrahigh-Q optical microcavity coupled with a tapered fiber is an ideal system for the cavity quantum
electrodynamics (CQED). In particular realizing this system at cryogenic temperature is vitally important and has been
recently explored for various CQED applications including solid-state atom-photon strong coupling, vibrational mode
cooling, and photonic quantum gates. These cryogenic fiber-coupled microcavity systems, however, suffer from
mechanical vibrations due to cooling systems and distortions caused by large temperature change. These factors may
cause the degradation in polarization of probe light field in the system. Here we report the analysis of the polarization
state in a tapered-fiber-coupled microsphere cavity at cryogenic temperatures. By scanning the wavelength of the probe
light at around 637 nm, which can be used for the diamond nitrogen vacancy centers, the spectral analysis of the
polarization state was performed at 8-30 K. We have found that the degree of polarization (DOP, classical analogue of
purity) at cryogenic temperatures does not show significant change compared to that measured at room temperature. This
fact indicates that the system can conserve the polarization at low temperature to the extent comparable to that at room
temperature, which is enough for the evaluation of the quantum phase gate.
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