Low-noise short-wavelength pumped frequency downconversion for quantum frequency converters

We present a highly efficient low-noise quantum frequency converter from the visible range to telecom wavelengths, combining a pump laser at intermediate frequency resonantly enhanced in an actively stabilized cavity with a monocrystalline bulk crystal. A demonstrator for photons emitted by nitrogen-vacancy-center qubits achieves 43% external efficiency with a noise photon rate per wavelength (frequency) band of 2 s−1/pm(17 s−1/GHz) – reducing the noise by two orders of magnitude compared with current devices based on periodically poled crystals with waveguides. With its tunable output wavelength, this device enables the generation of indistinguishable telecom photons from different network nodes and is, as such, a crucial component for a future quantum internet based on optical fiber.