Efficient generation of a photon pair in a bulk periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate

In this report, we demonstrate the efficient generation of collinearly propagating photon pairs in a bulk periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate pumped by a cw laser. The detected coincidence counts are more than 7400/s with 3.58 mW pump power in a Hanbury-Brown-Twiss-type experiment. The estimated photon pair production rate is about 0.73 MHz/mW. This is very promising for some applications, such as quantum key distribution, proof of the Bell-inequality, preparation of single photon states in broadband wave packets, Franson-type interference and so on.     

Laser frequency stabilization at 1.5 microns using ultranarrow inhomogeneous absorption profiles in Er:LiYF4

Single-frequency diode lasers have been frequency stabilized to 1.5 kHz Allan deviation over 0.05-50 s integration times, with laser frequency drift reduced to less than 1.4 kHz/min, using the frequency reference provided by an ultranarrow inhomogeneously broadened Er³⁺:⁴I_15/2→⁴I_13/2 optical absorption transition at a vacuum wavelength of 1530.40 nm in a low-strain LiYF₄ crystal. The 130 MHz full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) inhomogeneous line width of this reference transition is the narrowest reported for a solid at 1.5 μm. Strain-induced inhomogeneous broadening was reduced by using the single isotope ⁷Li and by the very similar radii of Er³⁺ and the Y³⁺ ions for which it substitutes. To show the practicability of cryogen-free cooling, this laser stability was obtained with the reference crystal at 5 K; moreover, this performance did not require vibrational isolation of either the laser or crystal frequency reference. Stabilization is feasible up to T=25 K where the Er³⁺ absorption thermally broadens to ∼500 MHz. This stabilized laser system provides a tool for interferometry, high-resolution spectroscopy, real-time optical signal processing based on spatial spectral holography and accumulated photon echoes, secondary frequency standards, and other applications such as quantum information science requiring narrow-band light sources or coherent detection.     

Optical decoherence times and spectral diffusion in an Er-doped optical fiber measured by two-pulse echoes, stimulated photon echoes, and spectral hole burning

Two-pulse and stimulated photon echoes and spectral hole burning were measured on the transition from the lowest component of the ⁴I_15/2 manifold to the lowest component of ⁴I_13/2 of Er³⁺ in a silicate optical fiber at 1.6 K. The two-pulse echo decays gave decoherence times as long as 230 ns for magnetic fields above 2 T. A large field dependent contribution to the homogeneous line width of >2 MHz was found and interpreted in terms of coupling to magnetic tunneling modes (TLS) in the glass. The stimulated echoes measured at 2 T showed spectral diffusion of 0.8 MHz/decade of time between 0.4 and 500 μs. Spectral diffusion in this high field region is attributed to coupling to elastic TLS modes which have a distribution of flip rates in glasses. Time-resolved spectral hole burning at very low field showed stronger spectral diffusion of 5.7 MHz/decade of time, attributed to coupling to magnetic spin-elastic TLS modes.     

Measurements of the linewidth of a continuous-wave distributed feedback quantum cascade laser

Two-sample (Allan) variance with a modified algorithm was applied to the determination of the experimental linewidth of a thermoelectrically-cooled continuous-wave distributed feedback quantum cascade laser at a wavelength of 4.333 μm. From successive laser transmittance scans over the CO₂ ν₃, (01¹1 − 01¹0) P(33) absorption line at 2307.653 cm^− 1, two-sample variances were calculated for the laser frequency difference between different points on the sides of the absorption peak. From the minimum two-sample variance of the laser frequency difference between two adjacent points (5 μs between the points) on the same side of the absorption line the experimental laser linewidth was estimated to be less than 36(7) kHz at a laser power of ~ 25 mW, a laser current of 976 mA and a laser temperature of + 19.5 °C.     

Torsion sensing with a fiber ring laser incorporating a pair of rotary long-period fiber gratings

We experimentally demonstrate a fiber ring laser for high-resolution torsion measurement, where the laser cavity consists of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer formed with a pair of long-period fiber gratings written in a twisted single-mode fiber by a CO₂ laser. The emitting wavelength of the laser provides a measure of the rate of the torsion applied to the grating pair, while the direction of the wavelength shift indicates the sense of the applied torsion. The narrow linewidth and the large side-mode suppression ratio of the laser can provide a much more precise measurement of torsion, compared with passive fiber-optic torsion sensors. The torsion sensitivity achieved is 0.084 nm/(rad/m) in the torsion range ± 100 rad/m, which corresponds to a torsion resolution of 0.12 rad/m, assuming a wavelength resolution of 10 pm for a typical optical spectrum analyzer. The ultimate resolution of the sensor is limited by the linewidth of the laser and could be an order of magnitude higher.     

The optical properties of ZnO/ZnMgO single quantum well grown by P-MBE

In this paper, ZnO/Zn_0.9Mg_0.1O single quantum well (SQW) structures were fabricated on c-plane sapphire (Al₂O₃) substrate by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (P-MBE). The photoluminescence (PL) peak of the SQW shifted from 3.31 to 3.37 eV as the well layer thickness was decreased from 6 to 2 nm. The spectral linewidth increases with temperature due to the scattering of excitons with acoustic and optical phonons. The transition energy of the localized exciton in the ZnO/Mg_0.1Zn_0.9O SQW with well width of 3 nm was found to be about 3.407 eV at 80 K, consistent with theoretical calculation. The first subband energies in the conduction and valence band were calculated to be 49 and 11 meV, respectively.     

All-optical synchronization of a 40 GHz self-pulsating distributed Bragg reflector laser to return-to-zero 10, 20 and 40 Gbit/s data streams

This paper presents experimental investigations of the all-optical synchronization of a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) laser self-pulsating at 40 GHz on various injected bit-rate signals. Even though there is no modulation applied to this laser, it exhibits a modulation of its output emission, measured at 39.7 GHz with a linewidth of 30 MHz. Such performance is exploited in all-optical clock recovery for a return-to-zero data stream at 40 Gbit/s. The SP-DBR laser wavelength and the injected signal wavelength are 10 nm apart. All-optical synchronization is demonstrated at 40 Gbit/s with a linewidth of less than 20 MHz for injected signals at 10 and 20 Gbit/s, respectively. Thus the SP-DBR laser proves to be very versatile and can be synchronized on various bit-rate data signals.     

A 729 nm laser with ultra-narrow linewidth for probing 4S1/2-3D5/2 clock transition of Ca

A Coherent Inc. Ti:sapphire laser MBR-110 is locked to a temperature-controlled high finesse Fabry-Perot cavity supported on an isolated platform. The linewidth is measured by locking the laser to another similar super-cavity at the same time and the heterodyne beatnote between two laser beams that locked to different cavities determines the linewidth. The result shows that the laser's linewidth is suppressed to be 41 Hz. The long-term drift is measured with a femtosecond comb and determined to be ~ 0.1 Hz/s. This laser is used to probe the 4S_1/2-3D_5/2 clock transition of a single ⁴⁰Ca⁺ ion. The Zeeman components of the clock transition with a linewidth of 160 Hz have been observed.     

Terahertz absorption spectrum of D2O vapor

The absorption spectrum of D₂O vapor from 0.2 to 2.0 THz (6.7-67 cm⁻¹) which is associated with rotational modes was measured at one atmosphere using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). The linewidth and collisional dephasing times were measured for 26 pure rotational transitions in the ground vibrational state (0 0 0). The temperature dependence of the linewidth (Δν) behaves as Δν ∼ T^−3/4 and the linewidth decrease with increasing temperature is attributed to the 1/r⁶ force of interaction between colliding D₂O molecules.     

Frequency stabilization of a laser diode to hyperfine structure of the 4D5/2 state of Rb atoms

We observed hyperfine structures of the 4D_5/2 state of ⁸⁵Rb atoms and applied them to the frequency stabilization of a laser diode by using the double resonance optical pumping (DROP). The hyperfine structures of the 4D_5/2 states of ⁸⁵Rb atoms were highly resolved in the Rb vapor cell. We compared the DROP with the optical-optical double resonance (OODR) in the 5S_1/2-5P_3/2-4D_5/2 ladder-type system of ⁸⁵Rb atoms. When we stabilized the frequency of a laser diode to the hyperfine structure of the 5P_3/2(F″ = 4)-4D_5/2(F″ = 3) transition by using the DROP spectrum, the frequency stability was approximately 2.3 × 10^− 12 after 100 s.     

High resolution XPS study of the large-band-gap semiconductor stibnite (Sb2S3): Structural contributions and surface reconstruction

Conventional X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and synchrotron radiation XPS (SRXPS) were used to probe the chemical state properties of stibnite (Sb₂S₃), a large-band-gap semiconductor of complex structure. The conventional spectra were obtained with a Kratos Axis Ultra XPS with magnetic confinement charge neutralization, which is very effective in minimizing both uniform charging and differential charging on this large-band-gap semiconductor. The narrow linewidths (much narrower than previously obtained) for single doublet fits (e.g. Sb 4d_5/2 of 0.57 eV and S 2p_3/2 of 0.63 eV) enabled the observation of a small peak on the low binding energy side of the Sb 3d and Sb 4d lines. With the aid of the very surface-sensitive Sb 4d SRXPS spectra, these low energy peaks are assigned to small Sb metal clusters at the surface after cleavage; the signal for these clusters increases with X-ray dose on the sample.A detailed analysis of the Sb 4d and S 2p linewidths concludes that the Sb 4d_5/2 linewidth is larger than expected based on the inherent linewidth of the instrument and the Sb 4d lifetime width, and on comparison with the As 3d linewidth (0.52 eV) for the analogous As₂S₃. Also, the S 2p_3/2 linewidth is substantially broader than the Sb 4d_5/2 linewidth. These larger than expected linewidths are due to two structurally distinct Sb atoms and three structurally distinct S atoms in the Sb₂S₃ crystal structure. Accordingly, the Sb 4d and S 2p spectra have been fitted to two and three doublets respectively, and the linewidth for all peaks is 0.53 eV. Using recent molecular orbital calculations, the doublets have been assigned to the different structural Sb and S sites.     

Entanglement dynamics for two interacting spins

We study the dynamical generation of entanglement for a very simple system: a pair of interacting spins, s₁ and s₂, in a constant magnetic field. Two different situations are considered: (a) s₁ → ∞, s₂ = 1/2 and (b) s₁ = s₂ → ∞, corresponding, respectively, to a quantum degree of freedom coupled to a semiclassical one (a qubit in contact with an environment) and a fully semiclassical system, which in this case displays chaotic behavior. Relations between quantum entanglement and classical dynamics are investigated.     

Synthesis and nonlinear optical characterization of SnO2 quantum dots

The present paper demonstrates the preparation and characterization of SnO₂ semiconductor quantum dots. Extremely small ∼1.1 and ∼1.4 nm SnO₂ samples were prepared by microwave assisted technique with a frequency of 2450 MHz. Based on XRD analysis, the phase, crystal structure and purity of the SnO₂ samples are determined. UV-vis measurements showed that, for the both size of SnO₂ samples, excitonic peaks are obtained at ∼238 and ∼245 nm corresponding to ∼1.1 nm (sample 1) and ∼1.4 nm (sample 2) sizes, respectively. STM analysis showed that, the quantum dots are spherical shaped and highly monodispersed. At first, the linear absorption coefficients for two different sizes of SnO₂ quantum dots were measured by employing a CW He-Ne laser at 632.8 nm and were obtained about 1.385 and 4.175 cm⁻¹, respectively. Furthermore, the nonlinear refractive index, n₂, and nonlinear absorption coefficient, β, were measured using close and open aperture Z-scan respectively using the same laser. As quantum dots have strong absorption coefficient to obtain purely effective n₂, we divided the closed aperture transmittance by the corresponding open aperture in the same incident beam intensity. The nonlinear refraction indices of these quantum dots were measured in order of 10⁻⁷ (cm²/W) with negative sign and the nonlinear absorption coefficients were obtained for both in order of 10⁻³ (cm/W) with positive sign.     

Design and implementation of polarization filter for quantum states discriminator in optical quantum communication

In optical quantum communication, quantum state measurement is necessary. This paper proposes a new technique for realization of polarization filter based on planar lightwave circuit (PLC). This filter is used for quantum state discriminator in quantum communication and also as a Bell-state analyzer in quantum repeater. Electro-optics interferometer has been used in design and implementation of polarization filter. We use lithium niobate as a wafer material and Ti:LiNbO₃ for waveguide. Two directional couplers have been used in this device. The length and spacing of these directional couplers have been designed so that each polarization is routed in specific output. The proposed device has one input and two outputs. If polarization of the input photon is vertical, then this photon will appear in output 1, otherwise if the input photon has horizontal polarization, it appears in output 2. For vertical polarization input, the power overlaps integral (POI) shows that isolation between two outputs is 14.96 dB. As to horizontal polarization input, the isolation between two outputs is 13.8 dB. The designed polarization filter has length of 33 mm and width of 60 μm. This device is very suitable for use in integrated optics.     

On the phase-space analysis of photon mediated quantum state transfer in nanophotonic waveguidance

A cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) based approach for transferring quantum state between quantum nodes has been proposed, wherein a rubidium (⁸⁷Rb) atom trapped inside a two-mode optical cavity forms the quantum node and photons serve as the information carrier between two such nodes. Information is encoded into polarized photon states generated through the application of a system of lasers. The focus is made on the phase-space analysis of the approach, wherein two subspaces of the hyperfine energy levels with magnetic sub-levels of rubidium (⁸⁷Rb) atom represent the logic states ‘0’ and ‘1’. The system of lasers initiates a cavity assisted Raman process which, in turn, generates a right- or left-circularly polarized photon depending on the logic state of the transmit node. Once the photon is received (at the receive node), the logic state of the transmit node is restored into the receive node through a cavity QED process.     

Optical spectra in the region of exciton resonances in quantum wells and quantum dots of In0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs heterostructures

The transparency, reflection and luminescence spectra of In_0.3Ga_0.7As structures with 8 nm thickness and quantum wells limited by the barrier layer GaAs of a 9 nm (upper layer) and 100 nm (bottom layer) thickness had been studied in the region of photon energy 0.5–1.6 eV. Lines associated with the transitions hh,lh1-e1(1s,2s,3s), hh2,lh2-e2(1s,2s,3s), hh1,lh1-e2(1s) and hh3,lh3-e3(1s) had been revealed in reflection spectra. The shapes of the reflection and transparency lines had been calculated using a single oscillator model of dispersion relations and the Kramers–Kronig integrals. The binding energy of hh,lh1-e1 excitons, the effective mass m_hh^∗ and m_lh^∗ and the damping factor for the optical transitions to QW and QD had been determined. The lifetime of charge carriers on quantum dots varies in the range of 0.04–0.1 ps, while the radiative lifetime of excitons in quantum wells in the considered structure is around 2 ps.     

Torsion-rotation global analysis and database for the CH3OH isotopomer of methanol

Fourier-transform far-infrared spectra of CH₃¹⁸OH in the 15-470 cm⁻¹ region have been analyzed by means of the Ritz assignment program. The far-infrared data have been combined with the literature microwave and millimeter-wave measurements in a full global fitting of the first three torsional states (ν_t = 0, 1, and 2) of the CH₃¹⁸OH ground vibrational state. The fitted dataset includes 550 microwave and millimeter-wave lines and more than 17 000 Fourier-transform transitions covering the quantum number ranges J ? 30, K ? 15, and ν_t ? 2. With incorporation of 79 adjustable parameters, the global fit achieved convergence with an overall weighted standard deviation of 1.072, essentially to within the assigned measurement uncertainties of ±50 kHz for almost all of the microwave and millimeter-wave lines and ±6 MHz (0.0002 cm⁻¹) to ±15 MHz (0.0005 cm⁻¹) for the Fourier-transform far-infrared measurements. Based on the global fit results, a database has been compiled containing transition frequencies, quantum numbers, lower state energies and transition strengths. This database will provide support for present and future astronomical studies, such as the on-going Orion surveys in preparation for the launch of the Herschel Space Observatory, in identifying isotopic methanol contributions to interstellar spectra.     

Large GMI effect in Co-rich amorphous wire by tensile stress

Quality Co₆₈Fe_4.5Si₁₅B_12.5 amorphous wires are fabricated and their giant magneto impedance (GMI) effect are investigated at frequencies ranging from 0.1 to 20 MHz with or without tensile stress applied. Experimental results indicate that the GMI effect of these wires can be effectively improved by applying a small axial tensile stress. There is a pronounced increase from 1.3% to 47.3% in impedance ratio at 0.6 MHz when a stress of 103 MPa is applied. The GMI response is further increased to 261% by doing so at 15 MHz. The field sensitivity of these wires is optimized and it increases from 0.55 to 2.73%/(A/m) at 0.6 MHz and it is proved that the most sensitive field response is obtained by applying a tensile stress of 84.5 MPa below 1 MHz. With reference to the stress evolution of sensitivity at varying frequencies, the maximum field sensitivity shifts to a lower stress with increasing frequency. Quantitatively, a stress as small as 18.4 MPa is enough to yield a field sensitivity as high as 6.7%/(A/m) at 15 MHz. This demonstrates the possibility of achieving small stress (<100 MPa) induced large enhancement of GMI effect and field sensitivity at frequencies of several tens of MHz that are of much technical interest in sensor applications.     

Reinvestigation of pressure broadening parameters at 60-GHz band and single 118.75 GHz oxygen lines at room temperature

Low pressure measurements of broadening parameters of the 118.75 GHz fine structure line of oxygen molecule have been made by a BWO-based spectrometer with acoustic detector (RAD) at room temperature. Pressure broadening parameters were obtained for the buffer gases O₂, N₂, Ne, He, Ar, H₂O, CO₂, and CO and have the following values 2.23 ± 0.01, 2.245 ± 0.02, 1.375 ± 0.02, 1.62 ± 0.03, 2.005 ± 0.02, 2.52 ± 0.04, 2.66 ± 0.08, and 2.31 ± 0.05 MHz/Torr, respectively. Measured central frequency is 118 750.340 ± 0.007 MHz. The central frequencies and broadenings by O₂ and N₂ of fine structure lines 1⁺, 5⁻, 7⁺, 11⁺, and 15⁻ belonging to the 60-GHz band are also measured. Comparison of previous and recent data on electronic, rotational, and fine structure lines broadenings reveals their close values (within 10%) and dependencies on corresponding rotational quantum numbers for these different oxygen spectra stretching from millimeter through submillimeter up to the optical bands. Such similarity could be used for estimation of the broadenings of not measured yet oxygen lines.