On-chip generation of photon-triplet states

Efficient sources of many-partite non-classical states are key for the advancement of quantum technologies and for the fundamental testing of quantum mechanics. We demonstrate the generation of time-correlated photon triplets at telecom wavelengths via pulsed cascaded parametric down-conversion in a monolithically integrated source. By detecting the generated states with success probabilities of (6.25 +/- 1.09) x 10(-11) per pump pulse at injected powers as low as 10 mu W, we benchmark the efficiency of the complete system and deduce its high potential for scalability. Our source is unprecedentedly long-term stable, it overcomes interface losses intrinsically due to its monolithic architecture, and the photon-triplet states dominate uncorrelated noise significantly. These results mark crucial progress towards the proliferation of robust, scalable, synchronized and miniaturized quantum technology. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America