Third-order spontaneous parametric down-conversion in thin optical fibers as a photon-triplet source

Abstract: We study the third order spontaneous parametric down conversion (TOSPDC) process, as a means to generate entangled photon triplets. Specifically, we consider thin optical fibers as the nonlinear medium to be used as the basis for TOSPDC in configurations where phase matching is attained through the use of more than one fiber transverse modes. Our analysis in this paper, which follows from our earlier paper Optics Letters 36, 190 (2011), aims to supply experimentalists with the details required in order to design a TOSPDC photon-triplet source. Specifically, our analysis focuses on the photon triplet state, on the rate of emission, and on the TOSPDC phasematching characteristics for the cases of frequency degenerate and frequency nondegenerate TOSPDC.