Mid-infrared spectrally-pure single-photon states generation from 22 nonlinear optical crystals

TL;DR

This paper theoretically analyzes the generation of spectrally pure single-photon states using 22 different nonlinear crystals across a broad mid-infrared spectrum, focusing on phase matching and group-velocity conditions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive theoretical comparison of 22 crystals for pure single-photon generation in the mid-infrared, including GVM and phase matching analysis.

Findings

Identification of optimal crystals for mid-infrared single-photon generation

Calculation of spectral purity and Hong-Ou-Mandel interference for each crystal

Guidelines for selecting crystals for quantum sensing and communication

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the preparation of pure-state single-photon source from 14 birefringent crystals (CMTC, THI, LiIO$_3$, AAS, HGS, CGA, TAS, AGS, AGSe, GaSe, LIS, LISe, LGS, and LGSe) and 8 periodic poling crystals (LT, LN, KTP, KN, BaTiO$_3$, MgBaF$_4$, PMN-0.38PT, and OP-ZnSe) in a wavelength range from 1224 nm to 11650 nm. The three kinds of group-velocity-matching (GVM) conditions, the phase matching conditions, the spectral purity, and the Hong-Ou-Mandel interference are calculated for each crystal. This study may provide high-quality single-photon sources for quantum sensing, quantum imaging, and quantum communication applications at the mid-infrared wavelength range.