Silicon-on-insulator integrated source of polarization-entangled photons

Laurent Olislager (1) , Jassem Safioui (1) , Stéphane Clemmen (2) , Kien Phan Huy (3) , Wim Bogaerts (4) , Roel Baets (4) , Philippe Emplit (1) , Serge Massar (5)

1 OPERA - Optics, Photonics, Electromagnetism, Radio-Communications and Acoustics
2 AEP Cornell - School of Applied and Engineering physics [Ithaca]
3 FEMTO-ST - Franche-Comté Électronique Mécanique, Thermique et Optique - Sciences et Technologies (UMR 6174)
4 Photonics Research Group
5 LIQ - Laboratoire d'Information Quantique [Bruxelles]

We report the experimental generation of polarization-entangled photons at telecommunication wavelengths using spontaneous four-wave mixing in silicon-on-insulator wire waveguides. The key component is a 2D coupler that transforms path entanglement into polarization entanglement at the output of the device. Using quantum state tomography we find that the produced state has fidelity 88% with a pure nonmaximally entangled state. The produced state violates the CHSH Bell inequality by S=2.37±0.19.

Domaines: Optique / photonique; Optique [physics.optics]

Laurent Olislager, Jassem Safioui, Stéphane Clemmen, Kien Phan Huy, Wim Bogaerts, et al.. Silicon-on-insulator integrated source of polarization-entangled photons. Optics Letters, 2013, 38, pp.1960 - 1962. ⟨10.1364/OL.38.001960⟩. ⟨hal-00909456⟩