Integrated optic devices for the generation and manipulation of entangled photon pairs

"Quantum properties of light are being exploited for various applications in the field of information and communication technologies. These applications require novel sources of non-classical states of light such as entangled states. Nonlinear optical effect involving spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) in which a high frequency pump photon splits into a pair of lower frequency photons is one of the most important process used for the generation of entangled photon pairs and is expected to find applications in a wide variety of quantum optics based systems. In this context integrated optic waveguides that confine and guide the interacting light waves over long interaction lengths can be compact and efficient as well as provide the designer with new geometries for achieving specific interactions that may not be feasible in bulk. It is expected that in the future, integrated optic devices will form basic building blocks for complex quantum circuits for various applications. The talk will discuss the process of SPDC in optical waveguides and present some of our recent work in the design of waveguide devices for the generation and manipulation of entangled photon pairs."