Affiliation:
1. Institute of Mirco/Nano Optoelectronic and Terahertz Technology, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Abstract
An ultra-compact optical quantum router (QR) consisting of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) and waveguide tapers is proposed and numerically simulated, using silicon-on-insulator (SOI). The interferometer is designed to work at the center wavelength of 1550 nm with visibilities of 99.65% and 98.80% for TE and TM polarizations, respectively. Using the principle of phase compensation and self-image, the length of the waveguide tapers is shortened by an order of magnitude with the transmission above 95% for both TE and TM polarizations. Furthermore, polarization beam splitters (PBS) with an ultra-compact footprint of 1.4 × 10.4 μm2 with transmissions of 98% for bi-polarizations are achieved by introducing anisotropic metamaterials. The simulated results indicate that the interferometer facilitates low loss, a broad operating spectral range, and a large tolerance to size variation in fabrications. The optical switch possesses the routing function while maintaining the polarization states, which promises to pave the point-to-point BB84 protocol into applications of network-based quantum communication.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Natural Science Research Project of Higher Education Institutions of Jiangsu Province
Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province
China Postdoctoral Fund
State Key Laboratory of Infrared Physics, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Subject
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging,Instrumentation,Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
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