Heralded single photon and correlated photon pair generation via spontaneous four-wave mixing in tapered optical fibers

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the generation of correlated photon pairs and heralded single photons using spontaneous four-wave mixing in tapered micro/nano fibers, with potential applications in fiber-optic quantum communication.

Contribution

It introduces a fiber-based source of correlated photons compatible with existing networks and shows multiplexing to enhance photon generation rates.

Findings

Measured joint spectral intensity matches theoretical predictions.

Achieved a zero-time second-order autocorrelation of about 0.2.

Demonstrated increased photon generation via spatial multiplexing.

Abstract

We study the generation of correlated photon pairs and heralded single photons via strongly non-degenerate spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) in a series of identical micro-/nano fibers (MNF). Joint spectral intensity of the biphoton field generated at the wavelength of about 880 nm and 1310 nm has been measured under excitation by 100 ps laser pulses demonstrating good agreement with the theoretical prediction. The measured zero-time second-order autocorrelation function was about 0.2 when the emission rate of the heralded photons was of 4 Hz. The MNF-based source perfectly matches standard single-mode fibers, which makes it compatible with the existing fiber communication networks. In addition, SFWM observation in a series of identical MNFs allows increasing generation rate of single photons via spatial multiplexing.