QUROPE Quantum Information Processing and Communication in Europe

Photon sources for multi-photon entanglement experiments are commonly based on the process of spontaneous parametric down conversion. Due to the probabilistic photon production, such experiments suffer from low multiphoton count rates. To increase this count rate, we present a novel SPDC pump source based on a femtosecond UV enhancement cavity that increases the available pump power while maintaining a high repetition rate of 80MHz. We apply the cavity as photon source for realizing symmetric, multi-partite entangled Dicke states, which are observed with a high rate and high fidelity. We characterize the observed Dicke states of up to six photons using efficient tools exploiting the state's symmetries.