We report the measurement of the photons flux produced in parametric down-conversion, performed in photon counting regime with actively quenched silicon avalanche photodiodes as single photon detectors. Measurements are done with the detector in a well defined geometrical and spectral situation. By comparison of the experimental data with the theory, a value for the second order susceptibilities of the non linear crystal can be inferred.
We study optical parametric oscillations in Kerr-nonlinear microresonators, revealing an intricate solution space -- parameterized by the pump-to-signal conversion efficiency -- that arises from an interplay of nonlinear processes. Using a three-mode approximation, we derive an efficiency-maximizing relation between pump power and frequency mismatch. To move beyond a three-mode approximation, a necessity for geometries such as integrated microring resonators, we numerically simulate the Lugiato-Lefever Equation that accounts for the full spectrum of nonlinearly-coupled resonator modes. We obse…
Low loss microresonators have revolutionised nonlinear and quantum optics over the past decade. In particular, microresonators with the second order, chi(2), nonlinearity have the advantages of broad spectral tunability and low power frequency conversion. Recent observations have highlighted that the parametric frequency conversion in chi(2) microresonators is accompanied by stepwise changes in the signal and idler frequencies. Therefore, a better understanding of the mechanisms and development of the theory underpinning this behaviour is timely. Here, we report that the stepwise frequency con…
We develop the formal approach to the angular spectrum transfer in parametric down-conversion that allows pumping with a structured beam. The scheme is based on an entangled photon source pumped by a laser beam structured with a vector-vortex polarization profile. This creates a two-photon quantum state exhibiting polarization-dependent transverse correlations that can be accessed through coincidence measurements on the spatially separated photons. The calculated correlations are shown to present a spin-orbit profile typical of vector beams, however, distributed on separate measurement regions…
Quantum cascaded up-conversion (CUpC) of parametric down conversion (PDC) in a finite nonlinear $χ^{(2)}$-crystal is studied theoretically within parametric approximation. The exact solution for creation and annihilation operators presented in the form of Bogoliubov transformation is valid for the high-gain regime and explicitly includes the non-zero wavevector-mismatch both for the PDC and CUpC. With the use of characteristic equation parametric amplification and oscillating regimes are analysed for degenerate, three- and four-mode cases. We show that the parametric amplification exists under…
A detailed analysis of the stimulated parametric down-conversion (PDC) process is performed to investigate the effects of the spatiotemporal degrees of freedom. The analysis provides information that would be useful for PDC-based metrology applications. Using a Wigner functional approach, we obtain the parametric down-converted state as the Bogoliubov transformed input state, in terms of Bogoliubov kernel functions. The result is used to consider the case for a coherent state seeding stimulated PDC. We also compute the background which is obtained from spontaneous PDC.
We present an explicit sech-squared-soliton solution associated with the optical Pockels effect, achieved through the generation of the frequency combs via parametric down-conversion in optical microresonators with quadratic nonlinearity. This soliton contrasts the parametric sech-soliton describing the half-harmonic field in the limit of the large index mismatch, and associated with the cascaded-Kerr effect. We predict differences in the spectral profiles and powers of the Pockels and cascaded-Kerr solitons, and report that the pump power threshold of the former agree with the recent experime…
Using a perturbative approach, we investigate the parametric down-conversion process without the semi-classical approximation. A Wigner functional formalism, which incorporates both the spatiotemproal degrees of freedom and the particle-number degrees of freedom is used to perform the analysis. First, we derive an evolution equation for the down-conversion process in the nonlinear medium. Then we use the perturbative approach to solve the equation. The leading order contribution is equivalent to the semi-classical solution. The next-to-leading order contribution provides a solution that includ…
In coupled quantum systems pure dephasing mechanisms acting on one constituent of the hybrid system break symmetry and enable optical transitions which are forbidden in the non-coupled system, i.e., the pure dephasing bath opens a cascaded dissipation pathway. Here we show that this mechanism enables single-photon induced parametric down-conversion in an ultrastrongly coupled plasmon-exciton system. Fast pure dephasing of the exciton is shown to support photon pair generation as the dominant energy relaxation pathway.
Correlated Photon Pair Production by Spontaneous Parametric Down Conversion in Quasi-Phase-Matched AlGaAs superlattice Waveguides using a Continuous Wave Pump
Frequency conversion in microresonators has revolutionised modern-day nonlinear and quantum optics. Here, we present a theory of the multimode second harmonic generation in microresonators under conditions when the parametric conversion back to the pump spectrum dominates through the large domain in the resonator parameter space. We demonstrate that the spectral tunability of the sideband generation in this regime is governed by a discrete sequence of the so-called Eckhaus instabilities. We report the transition to modelocking and generation of solitons, which have a double-pulse structure in …
Quantum-optical technologies based on parametric light down-conversion are not yet applied in the terahertz frequency range. This is owing to the complexity of detecting single photons in the terahertz frequency range and the strong entanglement of modes of optical-terahertz biphotons. This study investigates the angular structure of scattered radiation generated by strongly non-degenerate parametric down-conversion when the frequency of the idler radiation does not exceed several terahertz. We demonstrate that under certain approximations, it is possible to obtain azimuthal eigenmodes for the…
All-dielectric optical metasurfaces are a workhorse in nano-optics due to both their ability to manipulate light in different degrees of freedom and their excellent performance at light frequency conversion. Here, we demonstrate first-time generation of photon pairs via spontaneous parametric-down conversion in lithium niobate quantum optical metasurfaces with electric and magnetic Mie-like resonances at various wavelengths. By engineering the quantum optical metasurface, we tailor the photon-pair spectrum in a controlled way. Within a narrow bandwidth around the resonance, the rate of pair pr…
Quantum nonlinear interferometers (QNIs) can measure the infrared physical quantities of a sample by detecting visible photons. A QNI with Michelson geometry based on the spontaneous parametric down-conversion in a second-order nonlinear crystal is studied systematically. A simplified theoretical model of the QNI is presented. The interference visibility, coherence length, equal-inclination interference, and equal-thickness interference for the QNI are demonstrated theoretically and experimentally. As an application example of the QNI, the refractive index and the angle between two surfaces of…
We present measurements of the polarization dependencies of the x-ray signal photons generated by the effect of parametric down-conversion of x rays into ultraviolet radiation. The results exhibit pronounced discrepancies with the classical model for the nonlinearity but qualitatively agree with a newly developed quantum mechanical theory for the nonlinear interaction. Our work shows that the reconstruction of the atomic scale charge distribution of valence electrons in crystals by using nonlinear interaction between x rays and longer wavelength radiation, as was suggested in previous works, r…
