Latest revision as of 15:37, 7 January 2025

Single-Photon Source

A Single-Photon Source (SPS) is any system able to emit photons one by one. The typical measure of that is antibunching (also known as purity). They are useful for applications, so far mainly in engineering domains such as computation and communication.^[1] Other attributes are then also required, such as indistinguishability, brightness, etc.

This problem is one of our research topics, as the particular case ($N=1$) of our multiphoton emission research.

We have provided a concept for a perfect single photon source^[2] which, as opposed to the commonly accepted criterion $g^{(2)}(0)=0$, demands that $g^{(2)}(\tau)=0$ for all $\tau$ in a time gap. This has the unsuspected consequence that this produces bunching oscillations, which mark the onset of photon-ordering similarly to what happens when a gas liquefies, as we discuss in Ref. _^[3] where we further provide a mechanism for a full family of increasingly better SPS, with $g^{(2)}(\tau)$ function given by the elegant formula:

$$g^{(2)}_N(\tau) = 1 + \sum_{p=1}^{N-1} z_N^p \exp\big(- \gamma (1-z_N^p)\tau\big)$$

with

$$z_N\equiv\exp\left({2i\pi\over N}\right)$$

the $N$th roots of unity.

When not striving for perfection, we have shown how two-photon suppression can be realized from admixing squeezed states with coherent states^[4] and, more importantly, how such an understanding allows to realize joint subnatural-linewidth single-photon emission.^[5] The underlying mechanism was generalized to a broad range of quantum emitters in Ref. _^[6]. This was confirmed experimentally by Hanschke et al.^[7]

We also described the main and most widespread system for single-photon emission (a two-level system driven coherently and/or incoherently), as well as the loss of its antibunching, in Ref. _^[8].

Systems

With (what we believe is) first report:

1. Atoms^[9]
2. Trapped ions^[10]
3. quantum dots^[11] (see also _^[12], _^[13])
4. Single molecule^[14] (see also _^[15], _^[16])
5. NV-centers^[17]
6. defects
7. superconducting qubits

etc.

NV centers are one of the many luminescent defects in diamonds. An NV center is formed by replacing one carbon atom from the crystal with a nitrogen N atom as well as a vacancy V (missing atom, or hole) at an adjacent lattice position; whence the name (Nitrogen-Vacancy center).

Reviews include:

• On quantum dots: Template:Yu23a
• Heraded sources: Template:Signorini20a
• SFWM: Template:Wang24b

See also

• Blog posts on the perfect single photon source on Springer Nature web or on this web.

References

1. ↑ Template:Couteau23a
2. ↑ Perfect single-photon sources. S. Khalid and F. P. Laussy in Sci. Rep. 14:2684 (2024).
3. ↑ Photon liquefaction in time. E. Zubizarreta Casalengua, E. del Valle and F. P. Laussy in APL Quant. 1:026117 (2024).
4. ↑ Tuning photon statistics with coherent fields. E. Zubizarreta Casalengua, J. C. López Carreño, F. P. Laussy and E. del Valle in Phys. Rev. A 101:063824 (2020).
5. ↑ Joint subnatural-linewidth and single-photon emission from resonance fluorescence. J. C. López Carreño, E. Zubizarreta Casalengua, F.P. Laussy and E. del Valle in Quantum Sci. Technol. 3:045001 (2018).
6. ↑ Conventional and Unconventional Photon statistics. E. Zubizarreta Casalengua, J. C. López Carreño, F. P. Laussy and E. del Valle in Laser Photon. Rev. 14:1900279 (2020).
7. ↑ Origin of Antibunching in Resonance Fluorescence. L. Hanschke, L. Schweickert, J. C. López Carreño, E. Schöll, K. D. Zeuner, T. Lettner, E. Zubizarreta Casalengua, M. Reindl, S. Filipe Covre da Silva, R. Trotta, J. J. Finley, A. Rastelli, E. del Valle, F. P. Laussy, V. Zwiller, K. Müller and K. D. Jöns in Phys. Rev. Lett. 125:170402 (2020).
8. ↑ Loss of antibunching. J. C. López Carreño, E. Zubizarreta Casalengua, B. Silva, E. del Valle and F. P. Laussy in Phys. Rev. A 105:023724 (2022).
9. ↑ Photon Antibunching in Resonance Fluorescence. H. J. Kimble, M. Dagenais and L. Mandel in Phys. Rev. Lett. 39:691 (1977).
10. ↑ Nonclassical radiation of a single stored ion. F. Diedrich and H. Walther in Phys. Rev. Lett. 58:203 (1987).
11. ↑ A Quantum Dot Single-Photon Turnstile Device. P. Michler, A. Kiraz, C. Becher, W. V. Schoenfeld, P. M. Petroff, Lidong Zhang, E. Hu and A. İmamoğlu in Science 290:2282 (2000).
12. ↑ Template:Santori01a
13. ↑ Nonclassical radiation from a single self-assembled InAs quantum dot. C. Becher, A. Kiraz, P. Michler, A. İmamoğlu, W. V. Schoenfeld, P. M. Petroff, Lidong Zhang and E. Hu in Phys. Rev. B 63:121312(R) (2001).
14. ↑ Photon antibunching in the fluorescence of a single dye molecule trapped in a solid. T. Basché, W. E. Moerner, M. Orrit and H. Talon in Phys. Rev. Lett. 69:1516 (1992).
15. ↑ Template:Brunel99a
16. ↑ Template:Lounis00b
17. ↑ Stable Solid-State Source of Single Photons. C. Kurtsiefer, S. Mayer, P. Zarda and H. Weinfurter in Phys. Rev. Lett. 85:290 (2000).

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