Search for: All records

Integrated photonic microresonators have become an essential resource for generating photonic qubits for quantum information processing, entanglement distribution and networking, and quantum communications. The pair-generation rate is enhanced by reducing the microresonator radius, but this comes at the cost of increasing the frequency-mode spacing and reducing the quantum information spectral density. Here, we circumvent this rate-density trade-off in an $\mathrm{Al}\mathrm{Ga}\mathrm{As}$-on-insulator photonic device by multiplexing an array of 20 small-radius microresonators, each producing a 650-GHz-spaced comb of time-energy entangled-photon pairs. The resonators can be independently tuned via integrated thermo-optic heaters, enabling control of the mode spacing from degeneracy up to a full free spectral range. We demonstrate simultaneous pumping of five resonators with up to $50$-GHz relative comb offsets, where each resonator produces pairs exhibiting time-energy entanglement visibilities up to $95\mathrm{\%}$, coincidence-to-accidental ratios exceeding $5000$, and an on-chip pair rate up to $2.6{\mathrm{G}\mathrm{Hz}/\mathrm{mW}}^2$per comb line—an improvement over prior work by more than a factor of 40. As a demonstration, we generate frequency-bin qubits in a maximally entangled two-qubit Bell state with fidelity exceeding $87\mathrm{\%}$( $90\mathrm{\%}$with background correction) and detected frequency-bin entanglement rates up to 7 kHz (an approximately $70$MHz on-chip pair rate) using a pump power of approximately $250\text{μ}\mathrm{W}$. Multiplexing small-radius microresonators combines the key capabilities required for programmable and dense photonic qubit encoding while retaining high pair-generation rates, heralded single-photon purity, and entanglement fidelity. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

Precipitation channelled down tree stems (stemflow) or into drip points of ‘throughfall’ beneath trees results in spatially concentrated inputs of water and chemicals to the ground. Currently, these flows are poorly characterised due to uncertainties about which branches redirect rainfall to stemflow or throughfall drip points.We introduce a graph theoretic algorithm that ‘prunes’ quantitative structural models of trees (derived from terrestrial LiDAR) to identify branches contributing to stemflow and those contributing to throughfall drip points. To demonstrate the method's utility, we analysed two trees with similar canopy sizes but contrasting canopy architecture and rainfall partitioning behaviours.For both trees, the branch ‘watershed’ area contributing to stemflow (under conditions assumed to represent moderate precipitation intensity) was found to be only half of the total ground area covered by the canopy. The study also revealed significant variations between trees in the number and median contribution areas of modelled throughfall drip points (69 vs. 94 drip points tree⁻¹, with contributing projected areas of 28.6 vs. 7.8 m²tree⁻¹, respectively). Branch diameter, surface area, volumes and woody area index of components contributing to stemflow and throughfall drip points may play a role in the trees' differing rainfall partitioning behaviours.Our pruning algorithm, enabled by the proliferation of LiDAR observations of canopy structure, promises to enhance studies of canopy hydrology. It offers a novel approach to refine our understanding of how trees interact with rainfall, thereby broadening the utility of existing LiDAR data in environmental research. 

In the past decade, remarkable advances in integrated photonic technologies have enabled table-top experiments and instrumentation to be scaled down to compact chips with significant reduction in size, weight, power consumption, and cost. Here, we demonstrate an integrated continuously tunable laser in a heterogeneous gallium arsenide-on-silicon nitride (GaAs-on-SiN) platform that emits in the far-red radiation spectrum near 780 nm, with 20 nm tuning range, <6 kHz intrinsic linewidth, and a >40 dB side-mode suppression ratio. The GaAs optical gain regions are heterogeneously integrated with low-loss SiN waveguides. The narrow linewidth lasing is achieved with an extended cavity consisting of a resonator-based Vernier mirror and a phase shifter. Utilizing synchronous tuning of the integrated heaters, we show mode-hop-free wavelength tuning over a range larger than 100 GHz (200 pm). To demonstrate the potential of the device, we investigate two illustrative applications: (i) the linear characterization of a silicon nitride microresonator designed for entangled-photon pair generation and (ii) the absorption spectroscopy and locking to the D1 and D2 transition lines of 87Rb. The performance of the proposed integrated laser holds promise for a broader spectrum of both classical and quantum applications in the visible range, encompassing communication, control, sensing, and computing. 

The development of manufacturable and scalable integrated nonlinear photonic materials is driving key technologies in diverse areas, such as high-speed communications, signal processing, sensing, and quantum information. Here, we demonstrate a nonlinear platform—InGaP-on-insulator—optimized for visible-to-telecommunication wavelength χ(2) nonlinear optical processes. In this work, we detail our 100 mm wafer-scale InGaP-on-insulator fabrication process realized via wafer bonding, optical lithography, and dry-etching techniques. The resulting wafers yield 1000 s of components in each fabrication cycle, with initial designs that include chip-to-fiber couplers, 12.5-cm-long nested spiral waveguides, and arrays of microring resonators with free-spectral ranges spanning 400–900 GHz. We demonstrate intrinsic resonator quality factors as high as 324 000 (440 000) for single-resonance (split-resonance) modes near 1550 nm corresponding to 1.56 dB/cm (1.22 dB/cm) propagation loss. We analyze the loss vs waveguide width and resonator radius to establish the operating regime for optimal 775–1550 nm phase matching. By combining the high χ(2) and χ(3) optical nonlinearity of InGaP with wafer-scale fabrication and low propagation loss, these results open promising possibilities for entangled-photon, multi-photon, and squeezed light generation.