Fabrication of low-loss quasi-single-mode PPLN waveguide and its application to a modularized broadband high-level squeezer

A continuous-wave (CW) broadband high-level optical quadrature squeezer is essential for high-speed large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computing on a time-domain-multiplexed continuous-variable optical cluster state. CW THz-bandwidth squeezed light can be obtained with a waveguide optical parametric amplifier (OPA); however, the squeezing level has been insufficient for applications of fault-tolerant quantum computation because of degradation of the squeezing level due to their optical losses caused by the structural perturbation and pump-induced phenomena. Here, by using mechanical polishing processes, we fabricated a low-loss quasi-single-mode periodically poled LiNbO3 (PPLN) waveguide, which shows 7% optical propagation loss with a waveguide length of 45 mm. Using the waveguide, we assembled a low-loss fiber-pigtailed OPA module with a total insertion loss of 21%. Thanks to its directly bonded core on a LiTaO3 substrate, the waveguide does not show pump-induced optical loss even under a condition of hundreds of milliwatts pumping. Furthermore, the quasi-single-mode structure prohibits excitation of higher-order spatial modes and enables us to obtain larger squeezing level. Even with including optical coupling loss of the modularization, we observe 6.3-dB squeezed light from the DC component up to a 6.0-THz sideband in a fully fiber-closed optical system. By excluding the losses due to imperfections of the modularization and detection, the squeezing level at the output of the PPLN waveguide is estimated to be over 10 dB. Our waveguide squeezer is a promising quantum light source for high-speed large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computing.(c) 2021 Author(s).

Automated summary

A low-loss quasi-single-mode periodically poled LiNbO3 (PPLN) waveguide was fabricated using mechanical polishing processes, which allowed for larger squeezing level. This waveguide was utilized to assemble a low-loss fiber-pigtailed OPA module, showing promising results for high-speed large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computing. The waveguide did not exhibit pump-induced optical loss even under high power pumping conditions.