arXiv subjects

Charles Caër

Publications and source records attributed to Charles Caër.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Enhancing broadband second harmonic generation in a thin film lithium niobate racetrack resonator with tunable-coupling

Second harmonic generation in thin film periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) is constrained by an efficiency-bandwidth trade-off and fabrication-sensitive scaling. We demonstrate a racetrack resonator incorporating a short PPLN section and a tunable Mach-Zehnder interferometer coupler that enables in situ control of the coupling condition, compensating fabrication tolerances and stabilizing operation near critical coupling. The telecom pump is resonantly enhanced, while the near-infrared second harmonic is generated in single pass, eliminating dual-resonance requirements. The device achieves a 35 times efficiency enhancement over a non-resonant structure while maintaining a 7 nm bandwidth. This architecture provides a robust platform for broadband integrated frequency doubling.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

High-purity frequency-degenerate photon pair generation via cascaded SFG/SPDC in thin film lithium niobate

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.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

High-finesse Fabry-Perot cavities with bidimensional Si$_3$N$_4$ photonic-crystal slabs

Light scattering by a two-dimensional photonic crystal slab (PCS) can result in dramatic interference effects associated with Fano resonances. Such devices offer appealing alternatives to distributed Bragg reflectors or filters for various applications such as optical wavelength and polarization filters, reflectors, semiconductor lasers, photodetectors, bio-sensors, or non-linear optical components. Suspended PCSs also find natural applications in the field of optomechanics, where the mechanical modes of a suspended slab interact via radiation pressure with the optical field of a high finesse cavity. The reflectivity and transmission properties of a defect-free suspended PCS around normal incidence can be used to couple out-of-plane mechanical modes to an optical field by integrating it in a free space cavity. Here, we demonstrate the successful implementation of a PCS reflector on a high-tensile stress Si$_3$N$_4$ nanomembrane. We illustrate the physical process underlying the high reflectivity by measuring the photonic crystal band diagram. Moreover, we introduce a clear theoretical description of the membrane scattering properties in the presence of optical losses. By embedding the PCS inside a high-finesse cavity, we fully characterize its optical properties. The spectrally, angular, and polarization resolved measurements demonstrate the wide tunability of the membrane's reflectivity, from nearly 0 to 99.9470~$\pm$ 0.0025 \%, and show that material absorption is not the main source of optical loss. Moreover, the cavity storage time demonstrated in this work exceeds the mechanical period of low-order mechanical drum modes. This so-called resolved sideband condition is a prerequisite to achieve quantum control of the mechanical resonator with light.

quant-ph↗