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A Photonic System for Generating Unconditional Polarization-Entangled Photons Based on Multiple Quantum Interference
Published on: September 5, 2019
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Sorting linearly polarized photons with a single scatterer.
Optics Letters
|April 3, 2014
Summary
Tailoring light polarization allows directional control of photons interacting with nanoscale structures. This breakthrough in silicon photonics enables new applications in optical switching and quantum information processing.
Area of Science:
- Nanophotonics and Integrated Optics
- Quantum Information Science
Background:
- Light scattering from symmetric objects typically results in symmetric scattering directions.
- Nanoscale phenomena and tailored light polarization can break this symmetry.
- Previous work demonstrated unidirectional plasmon excitation using circularly polarized light.
Purpose of the Study:
- To generalize polarization-induced directionality beyond plasmonic systems.
- To demonstrate directional guiding of linearly polarized photons in silicon waveguides.
- To explore applications in photonic integrated circuits.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a single spatially symmetric scatterer in a silicon waveguide.
- Illumination with linearly polarized photons.
- Analysis of photon directionality based on polarization angle and structural asymmetry.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated that linearly polarized photons can be guided unidirectionally.
- Directionality is exclusively controlled by the photon's polarization angle and scatterer asymmetry.
- This effect is shown to be independent of plasmonic effects.
Conclusions:
- The study generalizes polarization-induced directionality to silicon photonic integrated circuits.
- This provides a novel mechanism for controlling light propagation at the nanoscale.
- Potential applications include polarization (de)multiplexing, unidirectional coupling, and quantum information processing.
