Filter-Free Indistinguishable Photon Generation from Continuous-Wave-Driven Integrated Microresonators

arXiv:2609.18575 · quant-ph, physics.optics · Submitted 2026-09-16 · Read on arXiv

quant-ph, physics.optics

Submitted: 2026-09-16

Updated: 2026-09-16

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The gist: Quantum networks require scalable photon sources combining narrow linewidth, high efficiency, and high indistinguishability.

Terminology

Abstract

Quantum networks require scalable photon sources combining narrow linewidth, high efficiency, and high indistinguishability. Microresonator photon-pair sources are promising candidates, yet a source-only description based on the joint spectral amplitude (JSA) predicts near-zero Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference visibility between photons generated by independent, CW-driven microresonators. In this work, we show that the observed HOM interference is not determined by the JSA alone. By combining finite-time detection with cavity-enhanced spontaneous four-wave mixing, we characterize a detector-conditioned heralded state governed by the idler-photon detection window. We further demonstrate that independently optimizing the idler and signal detection windows allows both heralded-photon indistinguishability and intrinsic heralding efficiency to approach unity, without spectral filtering or complex source engineering. Utilizing integrated high- Q silicon nitride microresonators, we achieve HOM visibilities of 0.992(8) and 0.942(12), without background subtraction, at fourfold count rates of 4.5(3) and 12.2(6) Hz, respectively. Our work establishes CW-driven high- Q microresonators as a robust and scalable platform for quantum-network primitives.

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