Quantum Breakthrough: First-Ever SPDC in Liquid Crystals Unveiled

Research setup for the generation of photon pairs at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light. Credit: Tanya Chekhova

Spontaneous parametric down-conversion , a key method for generating entangled photons used in quantum physics and technology, has traditionally been restricted to solid materials. However, researchers at theand the Jozef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia, have recently achieved a breakthrough by demonstrating SPDC in a liquid crystal for the first time.

SPDC is deeply linked to central symmetry. This is the symmetry with respect to a point – for instance, a square is centrally symmetric but a triangle is not. In its very essence – a splitting of one photon in two – SPDC breaks the central symmetry. Therefore, it is only possible in crystals whose elementary cell is centrally asymmetric. SPDC cannot happen in ordinary liquids or gases, because these materials are isotropic.

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