Progress towards on-chip entangled photon spectroscopy and bioimaging

Abstract

Entangled photons could translate complex, ultrafast laser-based spectroscopy and imaging to a chip-sized or distributable platform. The inherent temporal and energy correlations between the two entangled photons created in spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) allow a continuous-wave laser diode source to replicate ultrafast, two-pulse experiments that are usually performed in table-top scale setups. Although entangled photons were originally proposed to enhance multiphoton or nonlinear processes, few entangled experiments to date have outperformed classical photon sources from a full systems perspective. The low pump power criteria and periodically poled nonlinear sources, however, do make entangled photon experiments natural candidates for on-chip photonic circuits and spectroscopy. In our talk, we will discuss experiments that prove that the miniaturization of ultrafast experiments is a key area where entangled photons can compete with or prove superior to classical photon experiments. We will first discuss our progress in creating entangled photon sources in the visible to deep ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths as needed for spectroscopy and imaging, the integration of the subsequent photonic circuitry needed to create on-chip spectrometers, and then experimental results proving that on-chip entangled photon sources can replicate ultrafast pump-probe or be used for fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) experiments. We will also discuss our increasingly null experiments on topics like entangled two-photon absorption (ETPA) which are equally important for the progressing the field.