Background and Review of Cavity-Enhanced Spontaneous Parametric Down-Conversion

Published

August 22, 2019

Author(s)

Oliver T. Slattery, Lijun Ma, Kevin Zong, Xiao Tang

Abstract

Spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) in a nonlinear crystal has been a workhorse for the generation of entangled and correlated single-photon pairs used for quantum communications applications for nearly three decades. However, as a naturally broadband process, the ability of SPDC to interface with the very narrow energy transitions in atomic ensembles for implementing quantum memories, which are needed for quantum repeaters to extend the reach of quantum communications, was initially limited. To overcome this limitation, the process was enhanced by placing the nonlinear crystal inside a resonating cavity. This modified process has some important advantages, including narrowing the spectral linewidth of generated photons into brighter resonant modes of the cavity, and the ability to lock the desired mode of the cavity to the targeted transition frequency of the atomic ensemble. This paper presents an overview of the principle of cavity- enhanced SPDC, a review of works to date using this technique, and an example of one of these implementations.

Citation

Journal of Research (NIST JRES) -

Volume

124

NIST Pub Series

Journal of Research (NIST JRES)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/jres.124.019

Local Download

Keywords

cavity-enhanced SPDC, quantum communications, spontaneous parametric down-conversion

Citation

Slattery, O. , Ma, L. , Zong, K. and Tang, X. (2019), Background and Review of Cavity-Enhanced Spontaneous Parametric Down-Conversion, Journal of Research (NIST JRES), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/jres.124.019 (Accessed January 15, 2025)