Parametric up- and down-conversion in sub-wavelength waveguides: coherent sources in the UV and IR

Abstract

Parametric up- and down-conversion require phase matching between the generating and generated wavelengths, introducing strict requirements on the refractive index dispersion of materials used for this nonlinear processes. Optical microfibers can exploit the different modal overlap with core and cladding materials to phase match different modes at the required wavelengths. Intermodal phase-matching has been successfully exploited in optical microfibres to generate second- and third-harmonics, both in straight waveguides and related resonators. The simultaneous generation of guided higher harmonics also allowed to exploit other nonlinear effects like four wave mixing to generate light at short wavelengths in the UV part of the spectrum. Parametric down-conversion allows to generate entangled photons, but with efficiencies significantly smaller than their up-conversion processes because of their reliance of spontaneous photons generation from vacuum. The use of more complex architectures, based on multiple coupled waveguides, allows to achieve a quasi-phase matching condition, thus a sizeable improvement on the overall conversion efficiency