A source of polarization-entangled photon pairs interfacing quantum memories with telecom photons

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Documents

  • Christoph Clausen
  • Felix Bussieres
  • Alexey Tiranov
  • Harald Herrmann
  • Christine Silberhorn
  • Wolfgang Sohler
  • Mikael Afzelius
  • Nicolas Gisin
We present a source of polarization-entangled photon pairs suitable for the implementation of long-distance quantum communication protocols using quantum memories. Photon pairs with wavelengths 883 nm and 1338 nm are produced by coherently pumping two periodically poled nonlinear waveguides embedded in the arms of a polarization interferometer. Subsequent spectral filtering reduces the bandwidth of the photons to 240 MHz. The bandwidth is well-matched to a quantum memory based on an Nd:YSO crystal, to which, in addition, the center frequency of the 883 nm photons is actively stabilized. A theoretical model that includes the effect of the filtering is presented and accurately fits the measured correlation functions of the generated photons. The model can also be used as a way to properly assess the properties of the source. The quality of the entanglement is revealed by a visibility of V = 96.1(9)% in a Bell-type experiment and through the violation of a Bell inequality.
Original languageEnglish
Article number093058
JournalNew Journal of Physics
Volume16
Number of pages29
ISSN1367-2630
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 May 2014
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

15 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables

ID: 313514656