Spectral control of nonclassical light pulses using an integrated thin-film lithium niobate modulator

Manipulating the frequency and bandwidth of nonclassical light is essential for implementing frequency-encoded/ multiplexed quantum computation, communication, and networking protocols, and for bridging spectral mismatch among various quantum systems. However, quantum spectral control requires a strong nonlinearity mediated by light, microwave, or acoustics, which is challenging to realize with high efficiency, low noise, and on an integrated chip. Here, we demonstrate both frequency shifting and bandwidth compression of heralded single-photon pulses using an integrated thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) phase modulator. We achieve record-high electro-optic frequency shearing of telecom single photons over terahertz range (+/- 641 GHz or +/- 5.2 nm), enabling high visibility quantum interference between frequency-nondegenerate photon pairs. We further operate the modulator as a time lens and demonstrate over eighteen-fold (6.55 nm to 0.35 nm) bandwidth compression of single photons. Our results showcase the viability and promise of on-chip quantum spectral control for scalable photonic quantum information processing.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates the manipulation of frequency and bandwidth of single-photon pulses using an integrated thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) phase modulator, and shows the potential of on-chip quantum spectral control for scalable photonic quantum information processing.