Designing a compact cavity-enhanced source of entangled photons

Entanglement will be the key resource of future large-scale quantum networks, enabling quantum communication and advanced quantum applications like distributed quantum sensing and distributed quantum computing. To this end, entanglement will have to be distributed over large distances and efficiently coupled to quantum devices at the network nodes. This requires the entangled photons to have wavelengths and bandwidths compatible with the quantum memories in quantum repeater nodes or quantum devices at client nodes. Here, we present a cavity-enhanced source design using two nonlinear crystals inside a single cavity. We provide detailed considerations balancing the complexity of the cavity design with the photon bandwidth and the entanglement quality. Published by the American Physical Society 2025