Single-photon detection and cryogenic reconfigurability in Lithium Niobate nanophotonic circuits

Abstract

Lithium-Niobate-On-Insulator (LNOI) is emerging as a promising platform for integrated quantum photonic technologies because of its high second-order nonlinearity and compact waveguide footprint. Importantly, LNOI allows for creating electro-optically reconfigurable circuits, which can be efficiently operated at cryogenic temperature. Their integration with superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) paves the way for realizing scalable photonic devices for active manipulation and detection of quantum states of light. Here we report the first demonstration of these two key components integrated in a low loss (0.2 dB/cm) LNOI waveguide network. As an experimental showcase of our technology, we demonstrate the combined operation of an electrically tunable Mach-Zehnder interferometer and two waveguide-integrated SNSPDs at its outputs. We show static reconfigurability of our system with a bias-drift-free operation over a time of 12 hours, as well as high-speed modulation at a frequency up to 1 GHz. Our results provide blueprints for implementing complex quantum photonic devices on the LNOI platform.

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• Photonic integration of lithium niobate micro-ring resonators onto silicon nitride waveguide chips by transfer-printing
• Spectrally multiplexed heralded single photon source at telecom-band
• Integrated Photonic Platforms for Quantum Technology: A Review
• Integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors on titanium in-diffused lithium niobate waveguides