Duration: 18 months
The generation of high-quality entangled photons is the holy grail in modern quantum communication and computation, enabling measurement-based quantum computing and loss-tolerant encoding of quantum information. Entanglement in photonics has traditionally been generated using spontaneous parametric down-conversion in nonlinear crystals; however, more compact structures exploiting highly nonlinear processes, such as spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) in silicon nitride (SiN) micro-ring resonators, have emerged as a promising on-chip CMOS-compatible sources of quantum-correlated photon pairs. Quantopticon’s software suite, Quantillion, is the world’s only commercially available CAD tool dedicated to modelling solid-state quantum photonics systems. In this project, Quantillion’s unique modelling capabilities will be harnessed to tackle the new challenge of simulating an alternative technology platform, namely SiN. This promising platform offers many performance and practical advantages, including low photon loss, high optical nonlinearity, a well understood solid-state matrix, no liquid helium requirements, excellent transparency at 1.5-micron wavelength and advanced quantum metrology testing capabilities. Under this project we will implement a non-perturbative theory of degenerate SFWM based on Feynman’s diagrammatic approach. 2D effective index FDTD methods will be used to simulate SiN nonlinear waveguides and micro-ring resonators. The statistical properties of the photon emission (e.g., 1st- and 2nd-order coherence functions), as well as the entanglement fidelity, will be calculated and compared with devices fabricated at EPFL which will be designed to Quantopticon’s specification. The new simulation capabilities will improve the integrated structure’s design and result in efficient generation of entangled photon pairs.
