We describe an experiment in which photon pairs from a pulsed parametric down-conversion (PDC) source were coupled into single-mode fibers with heralding efficiencies as high as 70%. Heralding efficiency or mode preparation efficiency is defined as the probability of finding a photon in a fiber in a definite state, given the detection of its twin. Heralding efficiencies were obtained for a range of down-conversion beam-size configurations. Analysis of spatial and spectral mode selection, and their mutual correlation, provides a practical guide for engineering PDC-produced single photons in a definite mode and spectral emission band. The spectrum of the heralded photons were measured for each beam configuration, to determine the interplay between transverse momentum and spectral entanglement on the preparation efficiency.

© 2005 Optical Society of America

1. D. N. Klyshko, Photons and Nonlinear Optics, (Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1988).
2. D. C. Burnham and D. L. Weinberg, �??Observation of simultaneity in parametric production of optical photon pairs,�?? Phys. Rev. Lett. 25, 84-87 (1970). [CrossRef]
3. C. K. Hong and L. Mandel, �??Experimental realization of a localized one-photon state,�?? Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 58-60 (1986). [CrossRef]
4. A. I. Lvovsky, H. Hansen, T. Aichele, O. Benson, J. Mlynek, and S. Schiller, �??Quantum State Reconstruction of the Single-Photon Fock State,�?? Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 050402 (2001). [CrossRef]
5. A. L. Migdall, S. Castelletto, I. P. Degiovanni, and M. L. Rastello, �??Towards an intercomparison of a correlated photon based method to measure detector quantum efficiency,�?? Appl. Opt. 41, 2914-2922 (2002).
6. W. Tittel, J. Brendel, H. Zbinden and N. Gisin, �??Quantum cryptography using entangled photons in energy-time bell states,�?? Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 4737-40 (2000). [CrossRef]
7. E. Knill, R. Laflamme, and G. J. Milburn, �??A scheme for efficient quantum computation with linear optics,�?? Nature 409, 46-52 (2001). [CrossRef]
8. M. Zukowski, A. Zeilinger, and H. Weinfurter, �??Entangling photons radiated by independent pulsed sources,�?? Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 755, 91 (1995). J. G. Rarity, �??Interference of single photons from separate sources,�?? Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 755, 624 (1995). [CrossRef]
9. D. Bouwmeester, J. W. Pan, K. Mattle, M. Eibl, H. Weinfurter, and A. Zeilinger, �??Experimental quantum teleportation,�?? Nature 390, 575-579 (1997). (C) 2005 OSA 5 September 2005 / Vol. 13, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 6709. [CrossRef]
10. S. Castelletto, I. P. Degiovanni, V. Schettini, M. Ware, and A. Migdall, �??Measurement of coupling PDC photon source with single-mode and multi-mode optical fibers,�?? in �??Quantum Communications and Quantum Imaging,�?? R. E. Meyers and Y. H. Shih, eds., SPIE Proc. 5551, 60-72 (2004).
11. C. Kurtsiefer, M. Oberparlieter, and H. Weinfurter, �??High-efficiency entangled photon pair collection in type-II parametric fluorescence,�?? Phys. Rev. A 64, 023802 (2001). [CrossRef]
12. F. A. Bovino, P. Varisco, A. M. Colla, G. Castagnoli, G. Di Giuseppe, and A. V. Sergienko, �??Effective fiber-coupling of entangled photons for quantum communication,�?? Opt. Commun. 227, 343-348 (2003). [CrossRef]
13. C. H. Monken, P. H. Souto Ribeiro, and S. Padua, �??Optimizing the photon pair collection efficiency: A step toward a loophole-free Bell�??s inequalities experiment,�?? Phys. Rev. A 57, R2267-R2269 (1998). [CrossRef]
14. S. Castelletto, I. P. Degiovanni, M. Ware, and A. Migdall, �??Coupling efficiencies in single photon on-demand sources,�?? in �??Quantum Communications and Quantum Imaging�??R. E. Meyers and Y. H. Shih, eds., Proc. SPIE 5161, 48-56 (2003).
15. S. Castelletto, I. P. Degiovanni, M. Ware, and A. Migdall, �??On the measurement of two-photon single mode coupling efficiency in PDC photon sources,�?? New J. of Phys. 6, 87 (2004).
16. A. Dragan, �??Efficient fiber coupling of down-conversion photon pairs,�?? Phys. Rev. A 70, 053814 (2004). [CrossRef]
17. T. B. Pittmann, B. C. Jacobs, and J. D. Franson, �??Heralding single photons from pulsed parametric down-conversion,�?? Opt. Commun. 246, 545-550 (2005). [CrossRef]
18. D. Rosenberg, A. E. Lita, A. J. Miller, S. Nam, and R. E. Schwall, �??Performance of photon-number resolving transition-edge sensors with integrated 1550 nm resonant cavities,�?? IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 15, 575-578 (2005). [CrossRef]
19. The fiber-coupled bandwidth in this Type-I PDC experiment is significantly larger than that of the Type-II PDC setup in reference [11].
20. Calculation according to the NIST program on the web page <a href="http://physics.nist.gov/Divisions/Div844/facilities/cprad/cprad.html">http://physics.nist.gov/Divisions/Div844/facilities/cprad/cprad.html</a>.
21. M. H. Rubin, �??Transverse correlation in optical spontaneous parametric down-conversion,�?? Phys. Rev. A 54, 5349-5360 (1996). [CrossRef]
22. We calibrated the detector efficiency by using a mulitmode fiber in the same configuration of coupling lenses used with the single mode fiber after testing that the CUT collected all the correlated photons.
23. N. Boeuf, D. Branning, I. Chaperot, E. Dauler, S. Guerin, G. Jaeger, A. Muller, and A. Migdall, �??Calculating characteristics of noncollinear phase matching in uniaxial and biaxial crystals,�?? Opt. Eng. 39, 1016-1024 (2000). [CrossRef]

Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci.

• M. Zukowski, A. Zeilinger, and H. Weinfurter, �??Entangling photons radiated by independent pulsed sources,�?? Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 755, 91 (1995). J. G. Rarity, �??Interference of single photons from separate sources,�?? Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 755, 624 (1995). [CrossRef]

Appl. Opt.

• A. L. Migdall, S. Castelletto, I. P. Degiovanni, and M. L. Rastello, �??Towards an intercomparison of a correlated photon based method to measure detector quantum efficiency,�?? Appl. Opt. 41, 2914-2922 (2002).

IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.

• D. Rosenberg, A. E. Lita, A. J. Miller, S. Nam, and R. E. Schwall, �??Performance of photon-number resolving transition-edge sensors with integrated 1550 nm resonant cavities,�?? IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 15, 575-578 (2005). [CrossRef]

Nature

• D. Bouwmeester, J. W. Pan, K. Mattle, M. Eibl, H. Weinfurter, and A. Zeilinger, �??Experimental quantum teleportation,�?? Nature 390, 575-579 (1997). (C) 2005 OSA 5 September 2005 / Vol. 13, No. 18 / OPTICS EXPRESS 6709. [CrossRef]
• E. Knill, R. Laflamme, and G. J. Milburn, �??A scheme for efficient quantum computation with linear optics,�?? Nature 409, 46-52 (2001). [CrossRef]

New J. of Phys.

• S. Castelletto, I. P. Degiovanni, M. Ware, and A. Migdall, �??On the measurement of two-photon single mode coupling efficiency in PDC photon sources,�?? New J. of Phys. 6, 87 (2004).

Opt. Commun.

• F. A. Bovino, P. Varisco, A. M. Colla, G. Castagnoli, G. Di Giuseppe, and A. V. Sergienko, �??Effective fiber-coupling of entangled photons for quantum communication,�?? Opt. Commun. 227, 343-348 (2003). [CrossRef]
• T. B. Pittmann, B. C. Jacobs, and J. D. Franson, �??Heralding single photons from pulsed parametric down-conversion,�?? Opt. Commun. 246, 545-550 (2005). [CrossRef]

Opt. Eng.

• N. Boeuf, D. Branning, I. Chaperot, E. Dauler, S. Guerin, G. Jaeger, A. Muller, and A. Migdall, �??Calculating characteristics of noncollinear phase matching in uniaxial and biaxial crystals,�?? Opt. Eng. 39, 1016-1024 (2000). [CrossRef]

Phys. Rev. A

• M. H. Rubin, �??Transverse correlation in optical spontaneous parametric down-conversion,�?? Phys. Rev. A 54, 5349-5360 (1996). [CrossRef]
• C. Kurtsiefer, M. Oberparlieter, and H. Weinfurter, �??High-efficiency entangled photon pair collection in type-II parametric fluorescence,�?? Phys. Rev. A 64, 023802 (2001). [CrossRef]
• C. H. Monken, P. H. Souto Ribeiro, and S. Padua, �??Optimizing the photon pair collection efficiency: A step toward a loophole-free Bell�??s inequalities experiment,�?? Phys. Rev. A 57, R2267-R2269 (1998). [CrossRef]
• A. Dragan, �??Efficient fiber coupling of down-conversion photon pairs,�?? Phys. Rev. A 70, 053814 (2004). [CrossRef]

Phys. Rev. Lett.

• W. Tittel, J. Brendel, H. Zbinden and N. Gisin, �??Quantum cryptography using entangled photons in energy-time bell states,�?? Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 4737-40 (2000). [CrossRef]
• D. C. Burnham and D. L. Weinberg, �??Observation of simultaneity in parametric production of optical photon pairs,�?? Phys. Rev. Lett. 25, 84-87 (1970). [CrossRef]
• C. K. Hong and L. Mandel, �??Experimental realization of a localized one-photon state,�?? Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 58-60 (1986). [CrossRef]
• A. I. Lvovsky, H. Hansen, T. Aichele, O. Benson, J. Mlynek, and S. Schiller, �??Quantum State Reconstruction of the Single-Photon Fock State,�?? Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 050402 (2001). [CrossRef]

Proc. SPIE

• S. Castelletto, I. P. Degiovanni, M. Ware, and A. Migdall, �??Coupling efficiencies in single photon on-demand sources,�?? in �??Quantum Communications and Quantum Imaging�??R. E. Meyers and Y. H. Shih, eds., Proc. SPIE 5161, 48-56 (2003).

SPIE Proc.

• S. Castelletto, I. P. Degiovanni, V. Schettini, M. Ware, and A. Migdall, �??Measurement of coupling PDC photon source with single-mode and multi-mode optical fibers,�?? in �??Quantum Communications and Quantum Imaging,�?? R. E. Meyers and Y. H. Shih, eds., SPIE Proc. 5551, 60-72 (2004).

Other

• D. N. Klyshko, Photons and Nonlinear Optics, (Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1988).
• The fiber-coupled bandwidth in this Type-I PDC experiment is significantly larger than that of the Type-II PDC setup in reference [11].
• Calculation according to the NIST program on the web page <a href="http://physics.nist.gov/Divisions/Div844/facilities/cprad/cprad.html">http://physics.nist.gov/Divisions/Div844/facilities/cprad/cprad.html</a>.
• We calibrated the detector efficiency by using a mulitmode fiber in the same configuration of coupling lenses used with the single mode fiber after testing that the CUT collected all the correlated photons.

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