Strain-optic active control for quantum integrated photonics.

Journal article

We present a practical method for active phase control on a photonic chip that has immediate applications in quantum photonics. Our approach uses strain-optic modification of the refractive index of individual waveguides, effected by a millimeter-scale mechanical actuator. The resulting phase change of propagating optical fields is rapid and polarization-dependent, enabling quantum applications that require active control and polarization encoding. We demonstrate strain-optic control of non-classical states of light in silica, showing the generation of 2-photon polarisation N00N states by manipulating Hong-Ou-Mandel interference. We also demonstrate switching times of a few microseconds, which are sufficient for silica-based feed-forward control of photonic quantum states.

Authors: Humphreys, P; Metcalf, B; Spring, J; Moore, M; Salter, P

• Publication status: Published
• Publisher: Optical Society of American (OSA)
• Journal: Optics express
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 18
• Pages: 21719-21726
• Publication date: 2014-09-01
• DOI: 10.1364/oe.22.021719
• EISSN: 1094-4087
• ISSN: 1094-4087
• Language: English
• Keywords: physics.optics; quant-ph