Generation of Gaussian-modulated entangled states for continuous variable quantum communication

We present and demonstrate a high-efficiency and compact scheme for generating Gaussian-modulated Einstein Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entangled optical fields by injecting a modulated signal field into a non-degenerate optical parametric amplifier (NOPA). We perform a quantum analysis of the scheme and derive the variance of the output signal (idler) mode and the quantum entanglement between the signal and idler modes from the NOPA. An experimental study is presented with different Gaussian modulation depths, showing that the modulation of the injected signal field successfully enlarges the distribution of the field quadratures of the EPR source in phase space and has a negligible effect on the entanglement quality. The experimental observations have good agreement with the theoretical analysis. Our scheme can be used readily in continuous variable quantum key distribution protocol. (c) 2019 Optical Society of America