Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2212.00889 · Physical Review Research

Singular spectrum analysis of two-photon interference from distinct quantum emitters

Rocco Duquennoy, Maja Colautti, Pietro Lombardi, V. Berardi, Ilaria Gianani, Costanza Toninelli, Marco Barbieri

Published Jun 26, 2023• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Two-photon interference underlies the functioning of many quantum photonics devices. It also serves as the prominent tool for testing the indistinguishability of distinct photons. However, as their time-spectral profile becomes more involved, extracting relevant parameters, foremost the central frequency difference, may become difficult. In a parametric approach, these arise from the need for an exhaustive model combined with limited count statistics. Here we discuss a solution to curtail these effects on the evaluation of frequency separation relying on a semiparametric method. The time trace of the quantum interference pattern of two photons from two independent solid-state emitters is preprocessed by means of singular spectral analysis before inspecting its spectral content. This approach allows one to single out the relevant oscillations from both the envelope and the noise, without resorting to fitting. This opens the way for robust and efficient on-line monitoring of quantum emitters.

DOI
10.1103/physrevresearch.5.023191

Related papers

Organic Molecules for Photonic Quantum Technologies: an Insight into Two-Photon Interference from Distinct Emitters

Maja Colautti, Rocco Duquennoy, R. Emadi +6 more

The time trace of two-photon interference from distinct molecular emitters in the solid-state is analyzed to extract their spectral difference without resorting to fitting. This opens the path towards robust on-line monitoring of quantum emitters.

•Jan 1, 2023•0 citations

Accessing the spectrum of a single-photon by the Hong-Ou-Mandel interference

Lifeng Duan, Aojie Xu, Lirong Wang +1 more

We present and experimentally demonstrate a method for determining the spectral characterization of a single-photon state. This technique is based on the Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between a well-defined weak coherent state and a measured single-photon state. We estimate the spectrum of the single-photon state by fitting the measured interference dip with proposed model and least square method. Our method is particularly useful for characterising spectral property the single-photon state. It opens a way for robust and efficient on-line monitoring the single-photon emitters.

Optics Express•Jan 5, 2024•1 citation

Numerical analysis of single-photon phase noise via time-resolved two-photon interference

Taewon D. Kim, Hyeokin Kang, Jaeyoon Kim +2 more

Measuring the phase stability of single photons is essential for evaluating performance in various phase-based quantum applications, yet systematic methodologies for quantitative characterization remain underexplored. In this work, we numerically demonstrate that time-resolved two-photon interference can be effectively utilized to estimate the phase noise of single photons. Our simulations reveal that as phase noise increases, the interference visibility decreases, causing the joint detection probability to approach the non-interfering classical envelope. Furthermore, we verify that the power spectral density (PSD) of the phase noise can be reconstructed using a derived mathematical relationship. This approach establishes a direct quantitative link between measurable interference patterns and the underlying statistical phase fluctuations. This method provides a practical framework for characterizing single-photon phase stability, offering significant potential for enhancing quantum technologies such as quantum key distribution and sensing.

Quantum Computing, Communication, and Simulation•Mar 5, 2026•0 citations

Characterization of spectral diffusion by slow-light photon-correlation spectroscopy

Hüseyin Avni Vural, Julian Maisch, Ilja Gerhardt +3 more

Solid-state quantum emitters are playing a crucial role in the development of photonic quantum technologies. However, several decoherence mechanisms are known to impact the device performances and scalability. In various quantum emitter materials the fluctuation of the two-level system has been investigated by different methods to capture the evolution of coherence reduction. However, resolving the dynamics of spectral diffusion in the fundamental framework of on-demand single-photon generation remained unsolved. Hereby, the challenge is to observe with high time and energy resolution the impact of fluctuations directly in the properties of the emitted photons. In this Rapid Communication, we demonstrate the use of dispersion in a slow-light medium to map the photons frequency domain into time domain, observed as frequency-dependent time-of-flight. This allows for the measurement of the emission spectrum and the quantification of the spectral diffusion dynamics in one intensity correlation measurement. On exemplary semiconductor quantum dots, the impact of charge and spin noise on the spectral diffusion are revealed to follow an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. By a single measurement, broadening from the excitation repetition up to the stationary limit is resolved. This enables one to extract time-dependent two-photon interference visibilities for various timescales, which is a key performance measure for quantum emitters.

Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Apr 3, 2020•13 citations

Single-photon characterization by two-photon spectral interferometry

Valérian Thiel, Alex O. C. Davis, Ke Sun +3 more

Single-photon sources are a fundamental resource in quantum optics and quantum information science. Photons with differing spectral and temporal shapes do not interfere well and inhibit the performance of quantum applications such as linear optics quantum computing, boson sampling, and quantum networks. Indistinguishability and purity of photons emitted from different sources are crucial properties for many quantum applications. The ability to determine the state of single-photon sources therefore provides a means to assess their quality, compare different sources, and provide feedback for source tuning. Here, we propose and demonstrate a single-configuration experimental method enabling complete characterization of the spectral-temporal state of a pulsed single-photon source having both pure and mixed states. The method involves interference of the unknown single-photon source with a reference at a balanced beam splitter followed by frequency-resolved coincidence detection at the outputs. Fourier analysis of the joint-spectral two-photon interference pattern reveals the density matrix of the single-photon source in the frequency basis. We present an experimental realization of this method for pure and mixed state pulsed single-photon sources.

arXiv:1909.04294•Optics Express•Jun 5, 2020•22 citations

Limitations on the indistinguishability of photons from remote solid state sources

Benjamin Kambs, Christoph Becher

In the present work, we derive a formalism that can be used to predict and interpret the time structure and achievable visibilities for two-photon interference (TPI) experiments using photons from two separate sources. The treatment particularly addresses photons stemming from solid state quantum emitters, which are often subject to pure dephasing and spectral diffusion. Therefore, it includes the impact of phase- and emission frequency-jitter besides the influence of differing radiative lifetimes and a relative spectral detuning. While the treatment is mainly aimed at interference experiments after Hong–Ou–Mandel, we additionally offer generalized equations that are applicable to arbitrary linear optical gates, which rely on TPI.

arXiv:1806.08213•New Journal of Physics•Oct 24, 2018•73 citations
Two-photon interference underlies the functioning of many quantum photonics devices. It also serves as the prominent tool for testing the indistinguishability of distinct photons. However, as their time-spectral profile becomes more involved, extracting relevant parameters, foremost the central frequency difference, may become difficult. In a parametric approach, these arise from the need for an exhaustive model combined with limited count statistics. Here we discuss a solution to curtail these effects on the evaluation of frequency separation relying on a semiparametric method. The time trace of the quantum interference pattern of two photons from two independent solid-state emitters is preprocessed by means of singular spectral analysis before inspecting its spectral content. This approach allows one to single out the relevant oscillations from both the envelope and the noise, without resorting to fitting. This opens the way for robust and efficient on-line monitoring of quantum emitters.
We present and experimentally demonstrate a method for determining the spectral characterization of a single-photon state. This technique is based on the Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between a well-defined weak coherent state and a measured single-photon state. We estimate the spectrum of the single-photon state by fitting the measured interference dip with proposed model and least square method. Our method is particularly useful for characterising spectral property the single-photon state. It opens a way for robust and efficient on-line monitoring the single-photon emitters.
Measuring the phase stability of single photons is essential for evaluating performance in various phase-based quantum applications, yet systematic methodologies for quantitative characterization remain underexplored. In this work, we numerically demonstrate that time-resolved two-photon interference can be effectively utilized to estimate the phase noise of single photons. Our simulations reveal that as phase noise increases, the interference visibility decreases, causing the joint detection probability to approach the non-interfering classical envelope. Furthermore, we verify that the power spectral density (PSD) of the phase noise can be reconstructed using a derived mathematical relationship. This approach establishes a direct quantitative link between measurable interference patterns and the underlying statistical phase fluctuations. This method provides a practical framework for characterizing single-photon phase stability, offering significant potential for enhancing quantum technologies such as quantum key distribution and sensing.
Solid-state quantum emitters are playing a crucial role in the development of photonic quantum technologies. However, several decoherence mechanisms are known to impact the device performances and scalability. In various quantum emitter materials the fluctuation of the two-level system has been investigated by different methods to capture the evolution of coherence reduction. However, resolving the dynamics of spectral diffusion in the fundamental framework of on-demand single-photon generation remained unsolved. Hereby, the challenge is to observe with high time and energy resolution the impact of fluctuations directly in the properties of the emitted photons. In this Rapid Communication, we demonstrate the use of dispersion in a slow-light medium to map the photons frequency domain into time domain, observed as frequency-dependent time-of-flight. This allows for the measurement of the emission spectrum and the quantification of the spectral diffusion dynamics in one intensity correlation measurement. On exemplary semiconductor quantum dots, the impact of charge and spin noise on the spectral diffusion are revealed to follow an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. By a single measurement, broadening from the excitation repetition up to the stationary limit is resolved. This enables one to extract time-dependent two-photon interference visibilities for various timescales, which is a key performance measure for quantum emitters.
Single-photon sources are a fundamental resource in quantum optics and quantum information science. Photons with differing spectral and temporal shapes do not interfere well and inhibit the performance of quantum applications such as linear optics quantum computing, boson sampling, and quantum networks. Indistinguishability and purity of photons emitted from different sources are crucial properties for many quantum applications. The ability to determine the state of single-photon sources therefore provides a means to assess their quality, compare different sources, and provide feedback for source tuning. Here, we propose and demonstrate a single-configuration experimental method enabling complete characterization of the spectral-temporal state of a pulsed single-photon source having both pure and mixed states. The method involves interference of the unknown single-photon source with a reference at a balanced beam splitter followed by frequency-resolved coincidence detection at the outputs. Fourier analysis of the joint-spectral two-photon interference pattern reveals the density matrix of the single-photon source in the frequency basis. We present an experimental realization of this method for pure and mixed state pulsed single-photon sources.
In the present work, we derive a formalism that can be used to predict and interpret the time structure and achievable visibilities for two-photon interference (TPI) experiments using photons from two separate sources. The treatment particularly addresses photons stemming from solid state quantum emitters, which are often subject to pure dephasing and spectral diffusion. Therefore, it includes the impact of phase- and emission frequency-jitter besides the influence of differing radiative lifetimes and a relative spectral detuning. While the treatment is mainly aimed at interference experiments after Hong–Ou–Mandel, we additionally offer generalized equations that are applicable to arbitrary linear optical gates, which rely on TPI.