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Abstract Manipulating the frequency and bandwidth of nonclassical light is essential for implementing frequency-encoded/multiplexed quantum computation, communication, and networking protocols, and for bridging spectral mismatch among various quantum systems. However, quantum spectral control requires a strong nonlinearity mediated by light, microwave, or acoustics, which is challenging to realize with high efficiency, low noise, and on an integrated chip. Here, we demonstrate both frequency shifting and bandwidth compression of heralded single-photon pulses using an integrated thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) phase modulator. We achieve record-high electro-optic frequency shearing of telecom single photons over terahertz range (±641 GHz or ±5.2 nm), enabling high visibility quantum interference between frequency-nondegenerate photon pairs. We further operate the modulator as a time lens and demonstrate over eighteen-fold (6.55 nm to 0.35 nm) bandwidth compression of single photons. Our results showcase the viability and promise of on-chip quantum spectral control for scalable photonic quantum information processing.
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Broadband on-chip single-photon spectrometer
Abstract Single-photon counters are single-pixel binary devices that click upon the absorption of a photon but obscure its spectral information, whereas resolving the color of detected photons has been in critical demand for frontier astronomical observation, spectroscopic imaging and wavelength division multiplexed quantum communications. Current implementations of single-photon spectrometers either consist of bulky wavelength-scanning components or have limited detection channels, preventing parallel detection of broadband single photons with high spectral resolutions. Here, we present the first broadband chip-scale single-photon spectrometer covering both visible and infrared wavebands spanning from 600 nm to 2000 nm. The spectrometer integrates an on-chip dispersive echelle grating with a single-element propagating superconducting nanowire detector of ultraslow-velocity for mapping the dispersed photons with high spatial resolutions. The demonstrated on-chip single-photon spectrometer features small device footprint, high robustness with no moving parts and meanwhile offers more than 200 equivalent wavelength detection channels with further scalability.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1640959
- PAR ID:
- 10196492
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nature Communications
- Volume:
- 10
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2041-1723
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12149-x
