arXiv · 2512.13248
High-purity frequency-degenerate photon pair generation via cascaded SFG/SPDC in thin film lithium niobate
Abstract
Frequency-degenerate photon pairs generated using nonlinear photonic integrated devices are a crucial resource for scalable quantum information processing and metrology. However, their realization is hindered by unwanted parametric processes occurring within the same phase matching band, which degrade the signal-to-noise ratio and reduce the purity of the associated quantum states. Here, we propose a dual-pump scheme to produce frequency-degenerate photon pairs, based on cascaded sum-frequency generation and spontaneous parametric down-conversion occurring within a single waveguide, while strongly suppressing parasitic photon pair generation from single-pump processes. This approach significantly simplifies the design compared to microresonator-based methods and enables both pumping and collection of photon pairs entirely in the telecom band. We experimentally validate the concept in a layer-poled thin film lithium niobate waveguide, achieving frequency-degenerate photon pair generation with a brightness of \SI{1.0(3)e5}{\hertz \per \nm \per \square \milli \watt } and a 40 dB suppression of unwanted single-pump processes.
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Olivia Hefti, Marco Clementi, Enrico Melani, Jean-Etienne Tremblay, Andrea Volpini, Yesim Koyaz, Homa Zarebidaki, Ivan Prieto, Olivier Dubochet, Daniele Bajoni, Charles Caër, Hamed Sattari, Camille-Sophie Brès, Matteo Galli, Davide Grassani. 2025-12-15. High-purity frequency-degenerate photon pair generation via cascaded SFG/SPDC in thin film lithium niobate. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.13248
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