Correlated twin-photon generation in a silicon nitride loaded thin film PPLN waveguide

Photon-pair sources based on thin film lithium niobate on insulator technology have a great potential for integrated optical quantum information processing. We report on such a source of correlated twin-photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric down conversion in a silicon nitride (SiN) rib loaded thin film periodically poled lithium niobate (LN) waveguide. The generated correlated photon pairs have a wavelength centred at 1560 nm compatible with present telecom infrastructure, a large bandwidth (21 THz) and a brightness of similar to 2.5 x 10(5) pairs/s/mW/GHz. Using the Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect, we have also shown heralded single photon emission, achieving an autocorrelation g(H )((2))(0) ? 0.04.

Automated summary

Photon-pair sources based on thin film lithium niobate on insulator technology have the potential to revolutionize integrated optical quantum information processing. In this study, we present a source of correlated twin-photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric down conversion in a silicon nitride rib loaded thin film periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide. The generated correlated photon pairs possess a wavelength compatible with current telecom infrastructure, a large bandwidth, and high brightness. Furthermore, our findings also demonstrate heralded single photon emission with a high degree of autocorrelation.