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On-chip quantum interference between silicon photon-pair sources

Nature Photonics volume 8, pages 104–108 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Large-scale integrated quantum photonic technologies1,2 will require on-chip integration of identical photon sources with reconfigurable waveguide circuits. Relatively complex quantum circuits have been demonstrated already1,2,3,4,5,6,7, but few studies acknowledge the pressing need to integrate photon sources and waveguide circuits together on-chip8,9. A key step towards such large-scale quantum technologies is the integration of just two individual photon sources within a waveguide circuit, and the demonstration of high-visibility quantum interference between them. Here, we report a silicon-on-insulator device that combines two four-wave mixing sources in an interferometer with a reconfigurable phase shifter. We configured the device to create and manipulate two-colour (non-degenerate) or same-colour (degenerate) path-entangled or path-unentangled photon pairs. We observed up to 100.0 ± 0.4% visibility quantum interference on-chip, and up to 95 ± 4% off-chip. Our device removes the need for external photon sources, provides a path to increasing the complexity of quantum photonic circuits and is a first step towards fully integrated quantum technologies.

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Figure 1: Mode of operation, mechanism of photon-pair generation and physical structure of the device.
Figure 2: On-chip quantum and classical interference measurements, varying the internal phase φ.
Figure 3: Off-chip HOM quantum interference measurements of |Ψsplit〉.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Politi for useful discussions, and F. Melloti for experimental assistance. This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (UK), the European Research Council, the Bristol Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information, the European FP7 project QUANTIP and the European FP7 project BBOI. J.W.S. acknowledges support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. R.H.H. acknowledges a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. V.Z. acknowledges support from the Dutch Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter. G.D.M. acknowledges the FP7 Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship scheme. J.L.O'B. acknowledges a Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award and a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies. M.G.Th. acknowledges support from the Toshiba Research Fellowship scheme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory and Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Centre for Quantum Photonics, University of Bristol, Merchant Venturers Building, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UB, UK

    J. W. Silverstone, D. Bonneau, G. D. Marshall, J. G. Rarity, J. L. O'Brien & M. G. Thompson

  2. Corporate Research & Development Center, Toshiba Corporation, 1, Komukai Toshiba-cho, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki, 212-8582, Japan

    K. Ohira, N. Suzuki, H. Yoshida, N. Iizuka & M. Ezaki

  3. E. L. Ginzton Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, USA

    C. M. Natarajan

  4. School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, James Watt South Building, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK

    M. G. Tanner & R. H. Hadfield

  5. Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, TU Delft, Lorentzweg 1, Delft, 2628CJ, The Netherlands

    V. Zwiller

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  1. J. W. Silverstone
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Contributions

J.W.S. and D.B. contributed equally to this work. J.W.S., D.B., J.G.R., J.L.O'B. and M.G.Th. conceived and designed the experiments. J.W.S., D.B. and M.G.Th. analysed the data. K.O., N.S., H.Y., N.I. and M.E. fabricated the device. R.H.H., V.Z., C.M.N. and M.G.Ta. built the single-photon detector system. J.W.S., D.B. and G.D.M. performed the experiments. J.W.S., D.B., G.D.M., J.G.R., J.L.O'B. and M.G.Th. wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to M. G. Thompson.

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Competing interests

J.W.S., D.B., J.L.O'B. and M.G.Th. declare UK patent application number 1302895.6.

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Silverstone, J., Bonneau, D., Ohira, K. et al. On-chip quantum interference between silicon photon-pair sources. Nature Photon 8, 104–108 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2013.339

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