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arXiv:1908.02578 · New Journal of Physics

Criteria for single photon sources with variable nonclassicality threshold

Lukáš Lachman, Radim Filip

Published Jul 25, 2019• 8 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract Single photon sources are necessary for optical quantum technology. The nonclassicality of emitted single photons manifests itself in diverse experiments and applications. The applications already require different nonclassical aspects of single photons, however, a suitable hierarchy of criteria is missing. We propose variable experimental tests, based on adjustable linear optical networks and single photon detectors, giving a hierarchy of such nonclassicality criteria. The hierarchy goes beyond Hanbury–Brown–Twiss test of photon antibunching and allows us to compare faithfully quality and performance of single photon sources via their nonclassical properties.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/ab34b0

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•Dec 16, 2019•9 citations
Abstract Single photon sources are necessary for optical quantum technology. The nonclassicality of emitted single photons manifests itself in diverse experiments and applications. The applications already require different nonclassical aspects of single photons, however, a suitable hierarchy of criteria is missing. We propose variable experimental tests, based on adjustable linear optical networks and single photon detectors, giving a hierarchy of such nonclassicality criteria. The hierarchy goes beyond Hanbury–Brown–Twiss test of photon antibunching and allows us to compare faithfully quality and performance of single photon sources via their nonclassical properties.
We present an ab-initio derivation of a hierarchy of efficient nonclassicality criteria for sources of photons. The operational criteria are explicitly proposed for the linear optical multiport and feasible multiplexed single-photon detectors. The lowest criterion is equivalent to the frequently used g(2)(0){g}^{(2)}(0)g(2)(0) autocorrelation measurement testing the anticorrelation effect of photons. We also derive a hierarchy of criteria for the detectors capable to at least partially estimate photon-number distribution. We prove the usefulness of both hierarchies to detect the nonclassical states from the noisy multimode single-photon sources and the nonclassical states from the multiphoton sources.
By employing multiple conventional single-photon counting modules (SPCMs), which are binary-response detectors, instead of photon number resolving detectors, the nonclassicality criteria are investigated for various quantum states. The bounds of the criteria are derived from a system based on three or four SPCMs. The overall efficiency and background are both taken into account. The results of experiments with thermal and coherent light agree with the theoretical analysis. Compared with photon number resolving detectors, the use of a Hanbury Brown–Twiss-like scheme with multiple SPCMs is even better for revealing the nonclassicality of the fields, and the efficiency requirements are not so stringent. Some proposals are presented which can improve the detection performance with binary-response SPCMs for different quantum states.
The article surveys the state of the art in the design, development and application of devices for deterministically generating single photons on demand. Both the defined function and requisite form of such ‘single-photon’ sources are explained in detail. Their attributes and characteristics, in particular the photon-counting statistics of the light that they generate, are presented in conjunction with the experimental apparatus (most notably the Hanbury-Brown and Twiss interferometer) for measuring them. Promising applications of single-photon sources within quantum key distribution, quantum information processing, as well as metrology and fundamental tests of quantum mechanics, are described. The utility and relative advantages of single-photon sources vis-á-vis more conventional sources of light are explained in terms of application-specific requirements and the respective abilities of different sources to fulfil them. The article collects, classifies and sorts the most significant work towards realizing practical single-photon sources to date. Though emanating from a diverse set of technological disciplines, with different research and application objectives in mind, the relative advantages and drawbacks of each approach are assessed, to give the reader a broad yet coherent and critical review of a rapidly developing research front.
A reliable single photon source is a prerequisite for linear optical quantum computation and for secure quantum key distribution. A criterion yielding a conclusive test of the single photon character of a given source, attainable with realistic detectors, is therefore highly desirable. In the context of heralded single photon sources, such a criterion should be sensitive to the effects of higher photon number contributions, and to vacuum introduced through optical losses, which tend to degrade source performance. In this Rapid Communication we present, theoretically and experimentally, a criterion meeting the above requirements.
Single-photon sources are key components of a quantum communication network; however, present-day realizations of such photon sources do not yet show an ideal behavior. A quantitative way to qualify them is by calculating the second order correlation function, as done in the Hanbury Brown-Twiss (HBT) experiment [1]. In this study a Bell-source that produces an entangled Bell sate was used as a single-photon source. When one branch is used as heralding for the other the source produces sub-Poisson photon statistics. This is not true for the non-heralded case. While conducting the HBT experiment in the non-heralded case we came across a phenomenon of double coincidence peaks. Through our study we found that this could be a result of two very distinct phenomenon, one of which is due to the non-ideal behavior of a single-photon source, the other due to secondary photons generated by single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). Both an ideal sub-Poisson statistic and the double coincidence peaks result in g(2)(0) = 0 by the HBT experiment, but in the first case the photon source is indeed an actual single-photon source, while in the second case this could also happen with a non-ideal single-photon source. For that reason, sometimes it is not sufficient to rely only on the HBT experiment to qualify a single-photon source, but also conduct some deeper experiments.
The efficient certification of nonclassical effects of light forms the basis for applications in optical quantum technologies. We derive general correlation conditions for the verification of nonclassical light based on multiplexed detection. The obtained nonclassicality criteria are valid for imperfectly balanced multiplexing scenarios with on-off detectors and do not require any knowledge about the detector system. In this sense, they are fully independent of the detector system. In our experiment, we study light emitted by clusters of single-photon emitters, whose photon number may exceed the number of detection channels. Even under such conditions, our criteria certify nonclassicality with high statistical significance.