Fast All-Optical Switches in Si₃N₄ Photonic Integrated Circuits for Single-Photon Routing

TY - CONF

T1 - Fast All-Optical Switches in Si3N4 Photonic Integrated Circuits for Single-Photon Routing

AU - Ruf, Fabian

AU - Faurby, Carlos F. D.

AU - Paesani, Stefano

AU - Wang, Ying

AU - Nielsen, Lars

AU - Midolo, Leonardo

AU - Volet, Nicolas

AU - Heck, Martijn

PY - 2022/11

Y1 - 2022/11

N2 - Quantum photonics is set to play an important role in future computation and communications technology. The transfer of promising lab-scale demonstrations toward scalable field-ready applications is enabled by photonic integrated circuits (PICs). In particular, mature foundry-based PIC platforms guarantee reliable and low-cost fabrication as well as high production capacity. Silicon-nitride based PICs can exhibit ultralow losses as low as 0.1 dB/m, demonstrating their suitability for integrated quantum photonics, even for nanosecond delay lines required for efficient routing of single photons. The combination with deterministic quantum-dot based single-photon sources with high indistinguishability and purity offers the possibility for reliable generation of entangled photon states as fundamental resource for quantum computation and communications. To this end, low-loss optical switches matching the MHz to GHz single-photon generation rates are required but cannot be realized with standard components in Si3N4. To address this need, we have designed and optimized all-optical switches with GHz switching bandwidths based on the optical Kerr effect. The structures have been fabricated on a low-loss Si3N4 PIC foundry platform. Hong–Ou–Mandel measurements of on-chip Mach–Zehnder interferometers demonstrate the feasibility of the directional couplers as key components for applications in integrated quantum photonics.

AB - Quantum photonics is set to play an important role in future computation and communications technology. The transfer of promising lab-scale demonstrations toward scalable field-ready applications is enabled by photonic integrated circuits (PICs). In particular, mature foundry-based PIC platforms guarantee reliable and low-cost fabrication as well as high production capacity. Silicon-nitride based PICs can exhibit ultralow losses as low as 0.1 dB/m, demonstrating their suitability for integrated quantum photonics, even for nanosecond delay lines required for efficient routing of single photons. The combination with deterministic quantum-dot based single-photon sources with high indistinguishability and purity offers the possibility for reliable generation of entangled photon states as fundamental resource for quantum computation and communications. To this end, low-loss optical switches matching the MHz to GHz single-photon generation rates are required but cannot be realized with standard components in Si3N4. To address this need, we have designed and optimized all-optical switches with GHz switching bandwidths based on the optical Kerr effect. The structures have been fabricated on a low-loss Si3N4 PIC foundry platform. Hong–Ou–Mandel measurements of on-chip Mach–Zehnder interferometers demonstrate the feasibility of the directional couplers as key components for applications in integrated quantum photonics.

M3 - Poster

T2 - National Optics Congress

Y2 - 30 November 2022 through 1 December 2022

ER -