Review of Biphoton Sources Based on the Double‐Λ$\Lambda$ Spontaneous Four‐Wave Mixing Process

Abstract

AbstractThis review article focuses on biphoton sources based on the double‐ spontaneous four‐wave mixing (SFWM) process in laser‐cooled as well as room‐temperature or hot atomic ensembles. These biphoton sources have the advantage of providing stable frequencies, ultranarrow linewidths, and a tunability of the temporal biphoton width of more than one order of magnitude for high‐bandwidth applications. Therefore, the generated photons can be efficiently interfaced to, e.g., atomic quantum memories. In contrast, solid‐state biphoton sources typically require assistance by an optical cavity to operate at narrow linewidth that limits the tunability of the temporal width of the biphotons. Present state‐of‐the‐art double‐ SFWM biphoton sources can achieve one of the following results: a spectral linewidth of 50 kHz (290 kHz) or a temporal width of 13  (580 ns) with cold (hot) atoms, a detection rate of about 7 cps, and a generation rate of cps at a duty cycle of 0.4% or of cps in the steady state. The theoretical background of these biphoton sources, experimental implementations with cold and hot atoms, and progress over the years, will be illustrated.