Universal photonic processors fabricated by direct femtosecond-laser writing

Abstract

Recent advancements in active reconfigurable photonic devices have spurred interest in quantum information applications, ranging from computation to communications and sensing. Universal photonic processors (UPPs) play a crucial role in this domain, enabling the implementation of arbitrary unitary transformations on input photonic states. Common architectures for UPPs involve intricate interferometric meshes, with the reconfigurable Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) as the fundamental building block. In this work, we present the realization of an 8-mode UPP using direct femtosecond laser writing (FLW) as the fabrication platform. FLW allows rapid and cost-effective prototyping of waveguides in glass-based substrates, achieving low insertion losses (down to 0.13 dB cm −1 for propagation and 0.2 dB per facet for coupling), a critical requirement for quantum applications. By incorporating compact curved deep isolation trenches and stable, efficient thermal phase shifters, we have reduced the size of the MZI unit cell compared to the current state-of-the-art in FLW fabrication. This reduction improves integration density and circuit complexity with respect to the current state-of-the-art devices for this fabrication platform. The phase shifters exhibit minimal power dissipation (∼ 38 mW) and thermal crosstalk (∼ 20 %). The device operates at a wavelength of 925 nm, making it compatible with state-of-the-art quantum dot single-photon sources. It features 28 MZIs and 56 thermal phase shifters, with total insertion losses below 3 dB. Additionally, we describe a calibration process combining conventional methods with a machine learning optimization procedure, enabling the realization of unitary transformations with an average amplitude fidelity surpassing 0.99, showcasing the high precision required for quantum photonic applications.