Photon-pair generation in photonic crystal fibre with a 1.5 GHz modelocked VECSEL

Four-wave mixing (FWM) in optical fibre is a leading technique for generating high-quality photon pairs. We report the generation of photon pairs by spontaneous FWM in photonic crystal fibre pumped by a 1.5 GHz repetition-rate vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser (VECSEL). The photon pairs exhibit high count rates and a coincidence-to-accidental ratio of over 80. The VECSEL׳s high repetition-rate, high average power, tunability, and small footprint make this an attractive source for quantum key distribution and photonic quantum-state engineering.