SPDC

Spontaneous Parametric Down-Conversion (SPDC) is a nonlinear optical process widely used to generate entangled photon pairs. In SPDC, a high-energy pump photon passing through a nonlinear crystal is converted into two lower-energy photons, called the signal and idler, while conserving energy and momentum. This process is a cornerstone of experimental quantum optics, providing a reliable source of entanglement for applications in quantum communication, quantum cryptography, and fundamental tests of quantum mechanics. We have extensively used the SPDC process as a key tool in our quantum optics research. Our group employed SPDC sources to generate entangled photon pairs and multipartite entangled states, which were crucial in demonstrating Bell inequality violations, quantum nonlocality, and multi-photon entanglement witnesses. We have also applied SPDC-generated photons in quantum key distribution, secret sharing protocols, and high-dimensional quantum communication experiments, establishing experimental platforms that combine SPDC with optical fibers and integrated photonic systems for practical quantum technologies.
Selected publications
- Experimental Test of Fidelity Limits in Six-Photon Interferometry and of Rotational Invariance Properties of the Photonic Six-Qubit Entanglement Singlet State, M. Rådmark, M. Żukowski, M. Bourennane, Physical Review Letters 103 (15), 150501 (2009)
- Experimental filtering of two-, four-, and six-photon singlets from a single parametric down-conversion source, M. Rådmark, M. Wieśniak, M. Żukowski, M. Bourennane, Physical Review A 80 (4), 040302 (2009)
- Interference contrast in multisource few-photon optics, W. Laskowski, M. Wieśniak, M. Żukowski, M. Bourennane, H. Weinfurter, Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 42 (11), 114004 (2009)
- Compact source of polarization-entangled photon pairs, P. Trojek, C. Schmid, M. Bourennane, H. Weinfurter, C. Kurtsiefer, Optics Express 12 (2), 276-281 (2004)
- High-fidelity source of four-photon entanglement, S. Gaertner, M. Bourennane, M. Eibl, C. Kurtsiefer, H. Weinfurter, Applied Physics B 77 (8), 803-807 (2003)
- Experimental observation of four-photon entanglement from parametric down-conversion, M. Eibl, S. Gaertner, M. Bourennane, C. Kurtsiefer, M. Żukowski, H. Weinfurter, Physical Review Letters 90 (20), 200403 (2003)
- Single-photon counters in the telecom wavelength region of 1550 nm for quantum information processing, M. Bourennane, A. Karlsson, J.P. Ciscar, M. Mathés, Journal of Modern Optics 48 (13), 1983-1995 (2001)