High-purity frequency-degenerate photon pair generation via cascaded SFG/SPDC in thin film lithium niobate

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2512.13248v1
• Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2025 11:59:33 GMT
• Title: High-purity frequency-degenerate photon pair generation via cascaded SFG/SPDC in thin film lithium niobate
• Authors: Olivia Hefti, Marco Clementi, Enrico Melani, Jean-Etienne Tremblay, Andrea Volpini, Yesim Koyaz, Homa Zarebidaki, Ivan Prieto, Olivier Dubochet, Daniele Bajoni, Charles Caër, Hamed Sattari, Camille-Sophie Brès, Matteo Galli, Davide Grassani,
• Abstract summary: We propose a dual-pump scheme to produce frequency-degenerate photon pairs, based on cascaded sum-frequency generation and spontaneous parametric down-conversion.<n>We experimentally validate the concept in a layer-poled thin film lithium niobate waveguide, achieving frequency-degenerate photon pair generation with a brightness of SI1.0(3)e5hertz per nm per square milli watt.
• Score: 0.0
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Abstract: Frequency-degenerate photon pairs generated using nonlinear photonic integrated devices are a crucial resource for scalable quantum information processing and metrology. However, their realization is hindered by unwanted parametric processes occurring within the same phase matching band, which degrade the signal-to-noise ratio and reduce the purity of the associated quantum states. Here, we propose a dual-pump scheme to produce frequency-degenerate photon pairs, based on cascaded sum-frequency generation and spontaneous parametric down-conversion occurring within a single waveguide, while strongly suppressing parasitic photon pair generation from single-pump processes. This approach significantly simplifies the design compared to microresonator-based methods and enables both pumping and collection of photon pairs entirely in the telecom band. We experimentally validate the concept in a layer-poled thin film lithium niobate waveguide, achieving frequency-degenerate photon pair generation with a brightness of \SI{1.0(3)e5}{\hertz \per \nm \per \square \milli \watt } and a 40 dB suppression of unwanted single-pump processes.

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