Enhanced quantum emission from a topological Floquet resonance

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates enhanced entangled photon pair generation using a tunable topological Floquet insulator, showing improved nonclassical photon production and robustness, advancing resilient quantum source development.

Contribution

It introduces a novel topological Floquet insulator device for entangled photon generation with significant enhancement over previous topological systems.

Findings

Enhanced nonclassical photon pair generation observed.

Verified non-classicality and entanglement of generated photons.

Demonstrated robustness against defects in topological system.

Abstract

Entanglement is a valuable resource in quantum information technologies. The practical implementation of entangled photon sources faces obstacles from imperfections and defects inherent in physical systems, resulting in a loss or degradation of entanglement. The topological photonic insulators, however, have emerged as promising candidates, demonstrating an exceptional capability to resist defect-induced scattering, thus enabling the development of robust entangled sources. Despite their inherent advantages, building programmable topologically protected entangled sources remains challenging due to complex device designs and weak material nonlinearity. Here we present a development in entangled photon pair generation achieved through a non-magnetic and tunable anomalous Floquet insulator, utilizing an optical spontaneous four-wave mixing process. We verify the non-classicality and time-energy entanglement of the photons generated by our topological system. Our experiment demonstrates a substantial enhancement in nonclassical photon pair generation compared to devices reliant only on topological edge states. Our result could lead to the development of resilient quantum sources with potential applications in quantum technology.