Photon pair generation in multimode optical fibers via intermodal phase-matching

TL;DR

This paper explores photon-pair generation in multimode optical fibers through intermodal phase-matching, enabling the creation of correlated and factorable photon states with minimal spectral correlations, suitable for quantum technologies.

Contribution

It demonstrates the feasibility of generating multiple, high-quality photon pairs in multimode fibers with minimal spectral correlations using standard pump lasers.

Findings

Photon pairs can be generated in different fiber modes with large spectral shifts.

Factorable two-photon states can be produced using conventional pump lasers.

Multiple factorable states can be generated simultaneously across a wide spectrum.

Abstract

We present a detailed study of photon-pair generation in a multimode optical fiber via nonlinear four-wave mixing and intermodal phase-matching. We show that in multimode optical fibers, it is possible to generate correlated photon pairs in different fiber modes with large spectral shifts from the pump wavelength, such that the photon pairs are immune to contamination from spontaneous Raman scattering and residual pump photons. We also show that it is possible to generate factorable two-photon states exhibiting minimal spectral correlations between the photon pair components in conventional multimode fibers using commonly available pump lasers. It is also possible to simultaneously generate multiple factorable states from different FWM processes in the same fiber and over a wide range of visible spectrum by varying the pump wavelength without affecting the factorability of the states. Therefore, photon-pair generation in multimode optical fibers exhibits considerable potential for producing state engineered photons for quantum communications and quantum information processing applications.