The signal-gain characteristics of tellurite-based erbium-doped fiber amplifiers are clarified based on spectroscopic properties and signal-gain measurements. The potential of tellurite-based erbium-doped fiber for use as a broadband light source is also described.

Abstract:We report the first entanglement-based quantum key distribution (QKD) experiment over a 100-km optical fiber. We used superconducting single photon detectors based on NbN nanowires that provide high-speed single photon detection for the 1.5-μm telecom band, an efficient entangled photon pair source that consists of a fiber coupled periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide and ultra low loss filters, and planar lightwave circuit Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs) with ultra stable operation. These characteristics enabled us to perform an entanglement-based QKD experiment over a 100-km optical fiber. In the experiment, which lasted approximately 8 hours, we successfully generated a 16 kbit sifted key with a quantum bit error rate of 6.9 % at a rate of 0.59 bits per second, from which we were able to distill a 3.9 kbit secure key.

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Here we report the first demonstration of entanglement distribution over a record distance of 200 km which is of sufficient fidelity to realize secure communication. In contrast to previous entanglement distribution schemes, we use detection elements based on practical avalanche photodiodes (APDs) operating in a self-differencing mode. These APDs are low-cost, compact and easy to operate requiring only electrical cooling to achieve high single photon detection efficiency. The self-differencing APDs in combination with a reliable parametric down-conversion source demonstrate that entanglement distribution over ultra-long distances has become both possible and practical. Consequently the outlook is extremely promising for real world entanglement-based communication between distantly separated parties.

We demonstrate a significant reduction in the limit of label-free detection of individual viral-sized nanoparticles in aqueous solution through the use of a frequency doubled telecom laser constructed from a distributed feedback-periodically poled lithium-niobate (DFB-PPLN) union. By driving a whispering gallery mode biosensor near a wavelength of 650 nm with this device we have detected real-time adsorption steps for particles 36 nm in radius with a signal to noise ratio of 8. The noise equivalent detection limit is ∼20 ag (17 nm radius). This new lower limit is attributed to the ultralow resonance wavelength noise [(Δλr)rms/λr<10−9] associated with the use of the DFB-PPLN device.

We report an experimental demonstration of the distribution of time-bin entangled photon pairs over 100 km of optical fiber. In our experiment, 1.5-mum non-degenerated time-bin entangled photon pairs were generated with a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide by using the parametric down conversion process. Combining this approach with ultra-low-loss filters to eliminate the pump light and separate signal and idler photons, we obtained an efficient entangled photon pair source. To detect the photons, we used single-photon detectors based on frequency up-conversion. These detectors operated in a non-gated mode so that we could use a pulse stream of time correlated entangled photon pairs at a high repetition frequency (1 GHz). Using these elements, we distributed time-bin entangled photon pairs over 100 km of dispersion shifted fiber and performed a two-photon interference experiment. We obtained a coincidence fringe of 81.6% visibility without subtracting any background noise, such as accidental coincidence or dark count, which was good enough to violate Bell's inequality. Thus, we successfully distributed time-bin entangled photon pairs over 100 km.

We report a scheme for generating pulsed polarization-entangled photon pairs based on conversion from time-bin entanglement to polarization entanglement by use of an orthogonal polarization delay circuit and post-selection. We have experimentally demonstrated the scheme, using a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide, and successfully obtained polarization entanglement in the 1.55-microm telecom wavelength band.

We fabricate 50-mm-long direct-bonded quasi-phase-matched LiNbO3 ridge waveguides for difference frequency generation in the 3-μm wavelength range. Conversion efficiency of 40%/W is achieved using a 1-μm-band pump and a 1.55-μm-band signal, and a 0.26-mW output is obtained. We also use the device to demonstrate methane gas detection at around 3.3μm.