Ultranarrow-Band Photon Pair Source Compatible with Solid State Quantum Memories and Telecommunication Networks

TL;DR

This paper presents an ultranarrow-band photon pair source compatible with solid state quantum memories and telecom networks, enabling efficient long-distance quantum communication.

Contribution

The authors develop a cavity-enhanced spontaneous down-conversion source producing nondegenerate photon pairs with MHz bandwidths suitable for quantum memories.

Findings

Photon pairs at 606 nm and 1436 nm with ~2 MHz bandwidth

Compatible with Pr3+ quantum memories and telecom fibers

Suitable for long-distance quantum communication

Abstract

We report on a source of ultranarrow-band photon pairs generated by widely nondegenerate cavity-enhanced spontaneous down-conversion. The source is designed to be compatible with Pr3+ solid state quantum memories and telecommunication optical fibers, with signal and idler photons close to 606 nm and 1436 nm, respectively. Both photons have a spectral bandwidth around 2 MHz, matching the bandwidth of Pr3+ doped quantum memories. This source is ideally suited for long distance quantum communication architectures involving solid state quantum memories.