On-chip generation of hybrid polarization-frequency entangled biphoton states

Abstract

We demonstrate a chip-integrated semiconductor source that combines polarization and frequency entanglement, allowing the generation of entangled biphoton states in a hybrid degree of freedom without postmanipulation. Our AlGaAs device is based on type-II spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) in a counterpropagating phase-matching scheme, in which the modal birefringence lifts the degeneracy between the two possible nonlinear interactions. This allows the direct generation of polarization-frequency entangled photons, at room temperature and telecom wavelength, and in two distinct spatial modes, offering enhanced flexibility for quantum information protocols. The state entanglement is quantified by a combined measurement of the joint spectrum and Hong-ou-Mandel interference of the biphotons, allowing to reconstruct a restricted density matrix in the hybrid polarization-frequency space.