Enhanced Photon-Pair Generation Based on Thin-Film Lithium Niobate Doubly Resonant Photonic Crystal Cavity

Abstract

In this work, a doubly resonant photonic crystal (PhC) cavity is proposed to enhance second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency and photon pair generation rate (PGR). Through the exploration of geometry parameters, a band-edge mode within the light cone is identified as the first harmonic (FH) mode, and a band-edge mode outside the light cone is designated as the second harmonic (SH). Subsequently, by increasing the layers of the core region, a heterostructure PhC cavity is designed. The results showcase a doubly resonant PhC cavity achieving a 133/W SHG efficiency and a photon pair generation rate of 3.7 × 108/s. The exceptional conversion efficiency is attributed to the high quality factors Q observed in the FH and SH modes with values of approximately 280,000 and 2100, respectively. The remarkably high Q factors compensate for nonlinear efficiency degradation caused by detuning, simultaneously making the manufacturing process easier and more feasible. This work is anticipated to provide valuable insights into efficient nonlinear conversion and photon pair generation rates.

Keywords

• photon pair generation
• lithium niobate
• doubly resonant
• photonic crystals