Picosecond pulsed squeezing in thin-film lithium niobate strip-loaded waveguides at telecommunication wavelengths

Abstract

Achieving a high level of pulsed squeezing, in a platform which offers integration and stability, is a key requirement for continuous-variable quantum information processing. Typically highly squeezed states are achieved with narrow band optical cavities and bulk crystals, limiting scalability. Using single-pass parametric down conversion in an integrated optical device, we demonstrate quadrature squeezing of picosecond pulses in a thin-film lithium niobate strip-loaded waveguide. For on-chip peak powers of less than 0.3 W, we measure up to −0.33 ± 0.07 dB of squeezing with an inferred on-chip value of −1.7 ± 0.4 dB. This work highlights the potential of the strip-loaded waveguide platform for broadband squeezing applications and the development of photonic quantum technologies.