Spectral and temporal properties of type-II parametric down-conversion: The impact of losses during state generation

Abstract

In this paper, we theoretically study spectral and temporal properties of pulsed spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) generated in lossy waveguides. Our theoretical approach is based on the formalism of Gaussian states and the Langevin equation, which is elaborated for weak parametric down-conversion and photon-number-unresolved click detection. Using the example of frequency-degenerate type-II SPDC generated under pump-idler group-velocity-matching condition, we show how the joint-spectral intensity, mode structure, normalized second-order correlation function, and Hong-Ou-Mandel interference pattern depend on internal losses of the SPDC process. In addition, we propose a new method for the experimental determination of internal losses of nonlinear waveguides which is based on the measurement of the normalized second-order correlation functions.