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Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference

Telecom wavelength quantum dot single photon source

M. B. Ward, O. Z. Karimov, D. C. Unitt, Zhiliang L. Yuan, Patrick See, David Gevaux, Andrew J. Shields, P. Atkinson, D. A. Ritchie

Published Dec 10, 2005• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We demonstrate the first on-demand single photon source that is compatible with standard telecom optical fibre. The source may be useful for fibre optic-based single-photon applications, including quantum metrology, quantum communications and distributed quantum computing.
DOI
10.1109/qels.2005.1548702

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A source of bright and pure single photons is an essential tool for photonic quantum technologies, predicted to enable secure communication and networking. Self-assembled quantum dots are among the leading candidates to realise such a source. The currently highest-performing quantum dots emit at wavelengths unsuitable for fibre transmission, with telecom quantum dots lagging in performance. An intermediate step is to use quantum frequency conversion. Here we report to our knowledge the brightest quantum dot based source of telecom photons by frequency converting a near-infrared quantum dot embedded in a micropillar cavity to the telecom C-band. In a single-photon BB84 protocol, this source is capable of producing asymptotic keys rates of 1 kbps at over 150 km of optical fibre.
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Quantum key distribution with single photons from a telecommunication-wavelength quantum dot source is performed over a standard optical fibre link. The source was operated at a temperature of 70 K and gave g(2)(0)~0.166 with an efficiency of 5% after coupling into the single-mode fibre. Correlation results are quoted without subtraction of detector dark counts and g(2)(0) as low as 0.1 was measured, at reduced efficiency. This source enabled a proof-of-principle demonstration of quantum key distribution over 35 km of fibre using the BB84 protocol and phase encoding.
Single photon sources are essential building blocks for fundamental quantum optics, and quantum information networks. Their widespread use is currently hindered by impractical features, such as the need for operation at cryogenic temperatures and emission wavelengths lying outside telecom windows. Taking advantage of telecom technology and point defects in GaN crystals, we present, for the first time, the development of a fully-fibered source of single photons operating at room temperature, emitting photons in the telecom O-band and fulfilling the standards of telecom photonics. We characterise an emitter producting single photons at the wavelength of 1292 nm, a spectral broadening compatible with CWDM channels of 13 nm, and a brightness of 25 kcps per mW of pump power. The source shows a signal-to-noise ratio of 16.5 and a purity g(2)(0) = (5.9 ± 0.5) × 10−2 at room temperature, showing high potential for being integrated transportable quantum cryptography devices.