Simulation-guided design of an integrated photonic cavity for frequency-multiplexed spontaneous parametric down-conversion
Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 044078 – Published 26 October, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/17s5-pb9n
Abstract
Frequency-multiplexed entangled photon pair sources with narrow bandwidths and high pair generation efficiency are a key enabling technology for quantum networking. We present a simulation-based design study of an integrated photonic racetrack resonator source for spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) that simultaneously achieves all three properties. The central result is a simulated set of 90 doubly resonant signal and idler frequency-mode pairs with an effective frequency-space Schmidt number of 89.62, an average single-island purity of 0.960, an average bandwidth of 1.08 GHz, a mean free spectral range of 51.9 GHz, and a total internal pair-generation-rate efficiency of . Under deterministic wavelength-based splitting, the folded 45-pair state has an effective frequency-space Schmidt number of 44.93. To support these predictions, we derive a closed-form analytical connection between classical cavity parameters (resonant frequencies, decay rates, and coupling coefficients) and the quantum joint spectral amplitude and pair generation rate, extending the dispersive-medium quantization formalism of Raymer to the nonlinear optical cavity case. We demonstrate how classical electromagnetic field simulations can be combined with this analytical framework to predict quantum figures of merit for an integrated photonic source prior to fabrication. Fabrication and experimental validation are left for future work.
