Correlated photon-pair emission from a cw-pumped Fabry-Perot microcavity

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a high-finesse Fabry-Perot microcavity that, when cw-pumped, produces correlated photon pairs via Kerr non-linearity, with tunable frequency differences suitable for quantum communication.

Contribution

It introduces a novel microcavity-based photon-pair source utilizing Kerr non-linearity for adjustable frequency correlations.

Findings

Photon pairs emitted with frequencies shifted by ±1 free spectral range.

The setup enables precise control over photon frequency differences.

Potential applications in quantum communication are demonstrated.

Abstract

We study a dispersion-compensated high-finesse optical Fabry-Perot microcavity under high-intensity cw pumping. The Kerr non-linearity in the optical coatings causes a spontaneous four-wave mixing process, which leads to the emission of time-correlated photon pairs. The photon frequencies are shifted by $\pm 1$ free spectral range relative to the pump frequency. This setup allows for constructing a photon-pair source with precisely adjustable frequency difference between the emitted photons, which may have applications in quantum communication.