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New Journal of Physics

Focus on Single Photons on Demand

Philippe Grangier, Barry C. Sanders, Jelena Vuckovic A

Published Jul 29, 2004• 87 citations
Publisher

Abstract

It is safe to say that, when the concept of the photon was first introduced, the generation of single photons was not being considered. Until the emergence of the ideas and methods of quantum optics, the `single-photon regime' was attained by strongly attenuating a laser beam to ensure that the probability of having more than one photon became negligible. However, such attenuated beams differ from `true' single photons in at least two respects: first, the vacuum probability is much higher than the probability of detecting a photon, so one gets predominantly a `no-photon' regime with occasional detection of a photon; second, the probability of getting two photons is never zero, but essentially follows a Poisson law. Although the weak beam has been useful in quantum optics, the advent of quantum information science has placed stringent demands on optical sources, namely that sources produce single photons either on demand or heralded. In particular secure quantum cryptography and linear optical quantum computing depend on the availability of such single-photon sources. The combination of strict requirements for single photons, plus new technologies, is driving an exciting research effort into single-photon generation. This Focus Issue recognizes that single-photon sources are rapidly developing and presents research articles covering the spectrum of activity in the field. Significant advances are reported for single-photon and photon-pair sources constructed from quantum dots in pillar microcavities, parametric down converters, falling neutral atoms and trapped ions in cavities, defects in diamond nanocrystals and a single molecule in a solid. In addition to producing single-photon pulses, one article reports on the latest developments regarding the production of photon number states in a microwave cavity. Another article discusses the application of a nitrogen-vacancy-based single-photon source to an experimental demonstration of quantum key distribution in open air. Photodetection performs a critical role in assessing single-photon sources as well as heralding the arrival of a single photon based on detecting a correlated partner, and this issue presents the latest results on single-photon counting with a superconducting niobium nitride hot-electron bolometer. Another article provides a detailed study of how to characterize single-photon sources via intensity noise analyses. Photodetection is also important for post-selection-based processing for non-deterministic quantum information tasks, and this issue presents an analysis of photodetection and post-selection used in another way: enhancing the efficiency of single-photon sources by interferometry, photodetection and post-selection. New Journal of Physics appreciates the rapid pace of development in the area of single photons on demand. This Focus Issue presents the latest developments and also points to a bright future with better photon sources. Focus on Single Photons on Demand Contents Photon statistics characterization of a single-photon source R Alleaume, F Treussart, J-M Courty and J-F Roch Photon statistics of a non-stationary periodically driven single-photon source M Hennrich, T Legero, A Kuhn and G Rempe On the measurement of two-photon single-mode coupling efficiency in parametric down-conversion photon sources S Castelletto, I P Degiovanni, A Migdall and M Ware Single-photon sources based on single molecules in solids W E Moerner Single-photon generation with InAs quantum dots Charles Santori, David Fattal, Jelena Vuckovic, Glenn S Solomon and Yoshihisa Yamamoto Visible single-photon generation from semiconductor quantum dots Thomas Aichele, Valery Zwiller and Oliver Benson Enhanced correlated photon pair emission from a pillar microcavity M Benyoucef, S M Ulrich, P Michler, J Wiersig, F Jahnke and A Forchel Experimental open-air quantum key distribution with a single-photon source R Alleaume, F Treussart, G Messin, Y Dumeige, J-F Roch, A Beveratos, R Brouri-Tualle, J-P Poizat and P Grangier Post-processing with linear optics for improving the quality of single-photon sources Dominic W Berry, Stefan Scheel, Casey R Myers, Barry C Sanders, Peter L Knight and Raymond Laflamme A single-photon source based on a single Ca+ ion Christian Maurer, Christoph Becher, Carlos Russo, Jurgen Eschner and Rainer Blatt A calcium ion in a cavity as a controlled single-photon source M Keller, B Lange, K Hayasaka, W Lange and H Walther Quantum optics with single quantum dot devices Valery Zwiller, Thomas Aichele and Oliver Benson The creation and detection of arbitrary photon number states using cavity QED Benjamin T H Varcoe, Simon Brattke and Herbert Walther Stable single-photon source in the near infrared T Gaebel, I Popa, A Gruber, M Domhan, F Jelezko and J Wrachtrup Colloidal CdSe/ZnS quantum dots as single-photon sources X Brokmann, G Messin, P Desbiolles, E Giacobino, M Dahan and J P Hermier Towards a periodic deterministic source of arbitrary single-photon states Evan Jeffrey, Nicholas A Peters and Paul G Kwiat Fabrication of a superconducting niobium nitride hot electron bolometer for single-photon counting R Romestain, B Delaet, P Renaud-Goud, I Wang, C Jorel, J-C Villegier and J-Ph Poizat High-quality asynchronous heralded single-photon source at telecom wavelength Sylvain Fasel, Olivier Alibart, Sebastien Tanzilli, Pascal Baldi, Alexios Beveratos, Nicolas Gisin and Hugo Zbinden Philippe Grangier, Institut d'Optique Theorique et Appliquee, Orsay, France Barry Sanders, University of Calgary, Canada Jelena Vuckovic, Stanford University, CA, USA

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/6/1/e04

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It is safe to say that, when the concept of the photon was first introduced, the generation of single photons was not being considered. Until the emergence of the ideas and methods of quantum optics, the single-photon regime' was attained by strongly attenuating a laser beam to ensure that the probability of having more than one photon became negligible. However, such attenuated beams differ from true' single photons in at least two respects: first, the vacuum probability is much higher than the probability of detecting a photon, so one gets predominantly a `no-photon' regime with occasional detection of a photon; second, the probability of getting two photons is never zero, but essentially follows a Poisson law. Although the weak beam has been useful in quantum optics, the advent of quantum information science has placed stringent demands on optical sources, namely that sources produce single photons either on demand or heralded. 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New Journal of Physics appreciates the rapid pace of development in the area of single photons on demand. This Focus Issue presents the latest developments and also points to a bright future with better photon sources. Focus on Single Photons on Demand Contents Photon statistics characterization of a single-photon source R Alleaume, F Treussart, J-M Courty and J-F Roch Photon statistics of a non-stationary periodically driven single-photon source M Hennrich, T Legero, A Kuhn and G Rempe On the measurement of two-photon single-mode coupling efficiency in parametric down-conversion photon sources S Castelletto, I P Degiovanni, A Migdall and M Ware Single-photon sources based on single molecules in solids W E Moerner Single-photon generation with InAs quantum dots Charles Santori, David Fattal, Jelena Vuckovic, Glenn S Solomon and Yoshihisa Yamamoto Visible single-photon generation from semiconductor quantum dots Thomas Aichele, Valery Zwiller and Oliver Benson Enhanced correlated photon pair emission from a pillar microcavity M Benyoucef, S M Ulrich, P Michler, J Wiersig, F Jahnke and A Forchel Experimental open-air quantum key distribution with a single-photon source R Alleaume, F Treussart, G Messin, Y Dumeige, J-F Roch, A Beveratos, R Brouri-Tualle, J-P Poizat and P Grangier Post-processing with linear optics for improving the quality of single-photon sources Dominic W Berry, Stefan Scheel, Casey R Myers, Barry C Sanders, Peter L Knight and Raymond Laflamme A single-photon source based on a single Ca+ ion Christian Maurer, Christoph Becher, Carlos Russo, Jurgen Eschner and Rainer Blatt A calcium ion in a cavity as a controlled single-photon source M Keller, B Lange, K Hayasaka, W Lange and H Walther Quantum optics with single quantum dot devices Valery Zwiller, Thomas Aichele and Oliver Benson The creation and detection of arbitrary photon number states using cavity QED Benjamin T H Varcoe, Simon Brattke and Herbert Walther Stable single-photon source in the near infrared T Gaebel, I Popa, A Gruber, M Domhan, F Jelezko and J Wrachtrup Colloidal CdSe/ZnS quantum dots as single-photon sources X Brokmann, G Messin, P Desbiolles, E Giacobino, M Dahan and J P Hermier Towards a periodic deterministic source of arbitrary single-photon states Evan Jeffrey, Nicholas A Peters and Paul G Kwiat Fabrication of a superconducting niobium nitride hot electron bolometer for single-photon counting R Romestain, B Delaet, P Renaud-Goud, I Wang, C Jorel, J-C Villegier and J-Ph Poizat High-quality asynchronous heralded single-photon source at telecom wavelength Sylvain Fasel, Olivier Alibart, Sebastien Tanzilli, Pascal Baldi, Alexios Beveratos, Nicolas Gisin and Hugo Zbinden Philippe Grangier, Institut d'Optique Theorique et Appliquee, Orsay, France Barry Sanders, University of Calgary, Canada Jelena Vuckovic, Stanford University, CA, USA
The concept of the photon , central to Einstein's explanation of the photoelectric effect, is exactly 100 years old. Yet, while photons have been detected individually for more than 50 years, devices producing individual photons on demand have only appeared in the last few years. New concepts for single-photon sources, or 'photon guns', have originated from recent progress in the optical detection, characterization and manipulation of single quantum objects. Single emitters usually deliver photons one at a time. This so-called antibunching of emitted photons can arise from various mechanisms, but ensures that the probability of obtaining two or more photons at the same time remains negligible. We briefly recall basic concepts in quantum optics and discuss potential applications of single-photon states to optical processing of quantum information: cryptography, computing and communication. A photon gun's properties are significantly improved by coupling it to a resonant cavity mode, either in the Purcell or strong-coupling regimes. We briefly recall early production of single photons with atomic beams, and the operation principles of macroscopic parametric sources, which are used in an overwhelming majority of quantum-optical experiments. We then review the photophysical and spectroscopic properties and compare the advantages and weaknesses of various single nanometre-scale objects used as single-photon sources: atoms or ions in the gas phase and, in condensed matter, organic molecules, defect centres, semiconductor nanocrystals and heterostructures. As new generations of sources are developed, coupling to cavities and nano-fabrication techniques lead to improved characteristics, delivery rates and spectral ranges. Judging from the brisk pace of recent progress, we expect single photons to soon proceed from demonstrations to applications and to bring with them the first practical uses of quantum information.
Over the past ten years, on-demand single photon generation has been realized in numerous physical systems including neutral atoms, ions, molecules, semiconductor quantum dots, impurities and defects in solids, and superconductor circuits. The motivations for generation and detection of single photons are two-fold: basic and applied science. On the one hand, a single photon plays a central role in the experimental foundation of quantum mechanics and measurement theory. On the other hand, an efficient and high-quality single-photon source is needed to implement quantum key distribution, quantum repeaters and photonic quantum information processing. Written by top authors from academia and industry, this is the only textbook focused on single-photon devices and thus fills the gap for a readily accessible update on the rapid progress in the field.
A standard laser produces a coherent state of light with a Poissonian photon number distribution. Generation of single photons on demand is a key requirement for quantum key distribution and quantum information processing systems based on photonic qubits. One of the generation schemes for single photons is to use a single semiconductor quantum dot embedded in a monolithic microcavity. An optical pump pulse or electrical pump pulse generates more than one electron–hole pairs in a quantum dot. Those electron–hole pairs recombine to generate photons one by one via spontaneous emission. The last photon emitted from a quantum dot has a unique wavelength, differing from the other photons, because the multiparticle interaction inside a quantum dot modulates an emission wavelength. One can selectively extract this last photon by a narrow band optical filter, so that single photons are extracted from the system no matter how many electron–hole pairs are injected into the quantum dot initially.
The purpose of this issue is to highlight the recent progress and trends in the development of novel nano- and quantum photonic technologies. The articles published in this issue cover a broad range of areas, including: 1) novel nanophotonic light sources-both classical (lasers) and nonclassical (single- and entangled photon sources); 2) nonlinear optics in nanophotonic structures; 3) quantum optics and quantum information processing based on nanophotonics platform; 4) efficient devices for optical interconnects and optical information processing based on novel nanophotonic structures. This issue contains 25 papers, including eight invited, authored by well-established research groups and promising scientists from all over the world. The invited articles include extended reviews on entangled photon generation using silicon nanowire waveguides; cavity quantum electrodynamics and lasing oscillation in single quantum dot photonic crystal nanocavity systems; quantum plasmonic circuits; theoretical analysis of few-photon single-atom cavity quantum electrodynamics; semiconductor quantum dot micropillar microcavities for quantum optics in solid state; nanofiber-based optical trapping of cold neutral atoms; switching and counting with atomic vapors in photonic-crystal fibers; and production of multiple diamondbased single-photon sources. The contributed articles cover a broad variety of key nanophotonics and quantum photonics research areas, including recently obtained results on bright single-photon emission from a quantum dot in a circular Bragg grating microcavity, supercontinuum generation in nanostructured silicon waveguides, electrically driven photonic crystal nanocavity devices, and silicon quantum dots.
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.
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