CW-pumped telecom band polarization entangled photon pair generation in a Sagnac interferometer

A polarization entangled photon pair source is widely used in many quantum information processing applications such as teleportation, quantum swapping, quantum computation and high precision quantum metrology. Here, we report on the generation of a continuous-wave pumped degenerated 1550 nm polarization entangled photon pair source at telecom wavelength using a type-II phase-matched periodically poled KTiOPO4 crystal in a Sagnac interferometer. Hong-Ou-Mandel-type interference measurement shows the photon bandwidth of 2.4 nm. High quality of entanglement is verified by various kinds of measurements, for example two-photon interference fringes, Bell inequality and quantum states tomography. The wavelength of photons can be tuned over a broad range by changing the temperature of crystal or pump power without losing the quality of entanglement. This source will be useful for building up long-distance quantum networks

Realization of Zero-Refractive-Index Lens with Ultralow Spherical Aberration

Optical complex materials offer unprecedented opportunity to engineer fundamental band dispersion which enables novel optoelectronic functionality and devices. Exploration of photonic Dirac cone at the center of momentum space has inspired an exceptional characteristic of zero-index, which is similar to zero effective mass in fermionic Dirac systems. Such all-dielectric zero-index photonic crystals provide an in-plane mechanism such that the energy of the propagating waves can be well confined along the chip direction. A straightforward example is to achieve the anomalous focusing effect without longitudinal spherical aberration, when the size of zero-index lens is large enough. Here, we designed and fabricated a prototype of zero-refractive-index lens by comprising large-area silicon nanopillar array with plane-concave profile. Near-zero refractive index was quantitatively measured near 1.55 um through anomalous focusing effect, predictable by effective medium theory. The zero-index lens was also demonstrated to perform ultralow longitudinal spherical aberration. Such IC compatible device provides a new route to integrate all-silicon zero-index materials into optical communication, sensing, and modulation, and to study fundamental physics on the emergent fields of topological photonics and valley photonics.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

A Transmissive X-ray Polarimeter Design For Hard X-ray Focusing Telescopes

The X-ray Timing and Polarization (XTP) is a mission concept for a future space borne X-ray observatory and is currently selected for early phase study. We present a new design of X-ray polarimeter based on the time projection gas chamber. The polarimeter, placed above the focal plane, has an additional rear window that allows hard X-rays to penetrate (a transmission of nearly 80% at 6 keV) through it and reach the detector on the focal plane. Such a design is to compensate the low detection efficiency of gas detectors, at a low cost of sensitivity, and can maximize the science return of multilayer hard X-ray telescopes without the risk of moving focal plane instruments. The sensitivity in terms of minimum detectable polarization, based on current instrument configuration, is expected to be 3% for a 1mCrab source given an observing time of 10^5 s. We present preliminary test results, including photoelectron tracks and modulation curves, using a test chamber and polarized X-ray sources in the lab