Slow light enhanced correlated photon pair generation in photonic-crystal coupled-resonator optical waveguides

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that slow-light effects in silicon photonic-crystal coupled-resonator optical waveguides significantly enhance the efficiency of quantum-correlated photon pair generation via spontaneous four-wave mixing.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach using slow-light supermodes in photonic-crystal cavities to boost photon pair generation efficiency.

Findings

Photon pair generation rate increased by two orders of magnitude.

Slow-light supermodes enhance nonlinear interactions in photonic crystals.

Efficient quantum photon sources can be realized with this method.

Abstract

We demonstrate the generation of quantum-correlated photon pairs from a Si photonic-crystal coupled-resonator optical waveguide. A slow-light supermode realized by the collective resonance of high-Q and small-mode-volume photonic-crystal cavities successfully enhanced the efficiency of the spontaneous four-wave mixing process. The generation rate of photon pairs was improved by two orders of magnitude compared with that of a photonic-crystal line defect waveguide without a slow-light effect.