Efficient net-gain integrated optical parametric amplifier in the quantum regime

TL;DR

This paper presents a highly efficient integrated optical parametric amplifier with continuous-wave net gain, high phase-sensitive gain, broad bandwidth, and quantum-limited noise performance, advancing integrated quantum photonics.

Contribution

The work demonstrates a novel integrated OPA with over tenfold pump efficiency improvement and record-breaking phase-sensitive gain using thin-film lithium niobate, surpassing previous integrated OPAs.

Findings

Achieved 23.5 dB phase-sensitive gain with 110 mW pump power.

Net gain up to 10 dB exceeding fiber-chip-fiber losses.

Bandwidth covering telecommunication bands (~120 nm).

Abstract

Optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs) are promising to overcome the wavelength coverage and noise limitations in conventional optical amplifiers based on rare-earth doping and semiconductor gain. However, the high power requirement remains a major obstacle to the widespread use of OPAs. Integrated OPAs can in principle improve the pump efficiency with tight mode confinement; however, challenges associated with propagation loss, limited nonlinearity, and susceptibility to nanoscale fabrication imperfections prevent them from competing with conventional bulk and fiber-based OPAs. Here, we demonstrate a highly efficient integrated OPAs with continuous-wave net gain. The pump efficiency is improved by over one order of magnitude. Phase-sensitive gain of 23.5 dB is demonstrated, significantly exceeding previous integrated OPAs, using only 110 mW pump power and no cavity enhancement. This is achieved with parametric down-conversion in thin-film lithium niobate waveguides using the adapted poling technique to maintain the coherence of nonlinear interactions. Moreover, the high parametric gain exceeds fibre-chip-fibre losses, leading to appreciable net gain up to 10 dB. The 3 dB bandwidth is approximately 120 nm, covering telecommunication S-, C-, and Lbands. Quantum-limited noise performance is confirmed through the measurement of output field fluctuation below the classical limit. We further demonstrate that signalto-noise ratio in noisy optical communications can be increased by leveraging this efficient integrated OPA. Our work marks a significant step towards ideal optical amplifiers with strong amplification, high efficiency, quantum-limited noise, large bandwidth, and continuous-wave operation, unlocking new possibilities for next-generation photonic information processing systems.