Single-photon frequency shifting with a quadrature phase-shift keying modulator
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Updated: Nov 21, 2025

Generation and Coherent Control of Pulsed Quantum Frequency Combs
Published on: June 8, 2018
Changchen Chen1, Jane E Heyes2, Jeffrey H Shapiro2
1Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA. chencc@mit.edu.
Abstract:
Deterministic frequency manipulation of single photons is an essential tool for quantum communications and quantum networks. We demonstrate a 15.65 GHz frequency shift for classical and nonclassical light using a commercially available quadrature phase-shift keying modulator. The measured spectrum of frequency-shifted single photons indicates a high carrier-to-sideband ratio of 30 dB. We illustrate our frequency shifter's utility in quantum photonics by performing Hong-Ou-Mandel quantum interference between two photons whose initial frequency spectra overlap only partially, and showing visibility improvement from 62.7 to 89.1% after one of the photons undergoes a corrective frequency shift.
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