Design and analysis of spectral tunable entangled photon sources based on PPLN crystal

The “quantum” system of optical radiation metrology based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) correlated photon sources and coincidence measurement technology has important applications in the field of extremely weak optical radiation detection. To acquire widely tunable entangled photon sources, 532 nm continuous laser was used to pump periodically poled LiNbO3 (PPLN) crystal. And 676 nm~2500 nm correlated photons were got by switching the crystal period and tuning the temperature. Firstly, the parameters such as polarization period, length and temperature control precision of PPLN crystal were made a theoretical study. Thus, the polarization period of PPLN crystals, the bandwidth distribution curve of the signal light in different wavelength, and temperature control precision curve of the different wavelength of signal light are further calculated. The results show that, the 676 nm~2500 nm correlated photon can be got by using 9 PPLN crystals in the temperature range of 50°C~200°C. The bandwidth of the signal light has negative correlation with the crystal length; The temperature control precision of PPLN crystals was from 3.96°C to 7.64°C, and the temperature control precision requires more higher with the increase of signal light wavelength. The research results will lay a foundation for the design of high-throughput wide-spectrum tunable entangled photon sources.