A high generation rate photon-pair source using a dual element periodically-poled potassium titanyl phosphate (PP KTP) waveguide is described. The fully integrated photon-pair source consists of a 1064-nm pump diode laser, fiber-coupled to a dual element waveguide within which a pair of 1064-nm photons are up-converted to a single 532-nm photon in the first stage. In the second stage, the 532-nm photon is down-converted to an entangled photon-pair at 800 nm and 1600 nm which are fiber-coupled at the waveguide output. The photon-pair source features a high pair generation rate, a compact power-efficient package, and continuous wave (CW) or pulsed operation. This is a significant step towards the long term goal of developing sources for high-rate Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) to enable Earth-space secure communications. Characterization and test results are presented. Details and preliminary results of a laboratory free space QKD experiment with the B92 protocol are also presented.

Date Published: 13 September 2016
PDF: 16 pages
Proc. SPIE 9980, Quantum Communications and Quantum Imaging XIV, 99800U (13 September 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2237742

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9980:
Quantum Communications and Quantum Imaging XIV
Ronald E. Meyers; Yanhua Shih; Keith S. Deacon, Editor(s)