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

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)

Realization of multiplexing of heralded single photon sources using cascaded on-off detectors

Takayuki Kiyohara, Ryo Okamoto, Shigeki Takeuchi

Published Jun 1, 2017• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Summary form only given. Heralded single-photon sources (HSPS) are widely used in experimental quantum science because they have negligibly small jitter and can therefore achieve high visibility for quantum interference. However, it is necessary to decrease the photon generation rate to suppress multi-photon components. To address this problem, two methods have been proposed and discussed: spatial (or temporal) source multiplexing [1, 2] and photon-pair number discrimination [3]. Here, we report the first experimental realization of a HSPS combining these two methods that can suppress the two-photon probability to 44.2 ± 0.7% of that of a normal HSPS [4]. We also provide a theoretical analysis and a discussion of the effect of combining the two methods, considering a detector cascade as a practical photon number discriminating detector. The experimental results agreed well with the theoretical predictions.

DOI
10.1109/cleoe-eqec.2017.8087411

Related papers

Realization of multiplexing of heralded single photon sources using photon number resolving detectors

Takayuki Kiyohara, Ryo Okamoto, Shigeki Takeuchi

Heralded single-photon sources (HSPS) are widely used in experimental quantum science because they have negligibly small jitter and can therefore achieve high visibility for quantum interference. However, it is necessary to decrease the photon generation rate to suppress multi-photon components. To address this problem, two methods have been proposed and discussed: spatial (or temporal) source multiplexing and photon-pair number discrimination. Here, we report the experimental realization of a HSPS combining these two methods that can suppress the two-photon probability to 44.2 ± 0.7% of that of a normal HSPS. We also provide a theoretical analysis and a discussion of the effect of combining the two methods, considering a detector cascade as a practical photon number discriminating detector. The experimental results agreed well with the theoretical predictions.

Optics Express•Nov 15, 2016•27 citations

An excess-photon suppressed heralded single photon source combining multiple down-converters and cascaded detectors (Conference Presentation)

Takayuki Kiyohara, Ryo Okamoto, Shigeki Takeuchi

Heralded single photon sources (HSPS) using spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) are widely used in photonic quantum information. However, the excess-photon pair generation in SPDC process is a problem, which results in the events where more than two photons exist in a pulse. Such excess photons degrade the visibility (V) of two-photon Hong-Ou-Mandel interference, and are one of the main error causes in the advanced linear optics photonic circuits. Recently, we have developed a novel HSPS which combines two methods to suppress such excess photon numbers. The first method (A) is to use multiple SPDC sources in one HSPS, where upon the detection of the idler photon from one of the source, the corresponding signal photon is output. The second method (B) is to use cascaded detectors to monitor the photon-pair number generated from the source, where the detector distinguish the single-pair generation from multi-pair generation and thus the excess-photon generation can be suppressed. In this presentation, we report the theoretical calculations how such a source can improve the visibility for a two photon interference. For example, when the average number of pairs from SPDC in a pulse is 0.1, and the detection efficiency is 70%, V= 83.2% for a conventional HSPS. V is improved to 90.3%, 87.1% and 92.7% by using method A, B and our hybrid approach, respectively.

•Dec 7, 2016•0 citations

Experimental demonstration of relative temporal multiplexing

X. Zhang, Yee Hui Lee, Bryn A. Bell +4 more

Interference between single photons lies at the heart of linear optical quantum computing (LOQC). However, the lack of deterministic single photon sources hinders the large-scale experimental demonstration and its practical applications, as the probability to generate N single photons simultaneously (denoted by N-photon hereafter) decreases exponentially with the increasing number of single photon sources [1]. Multiplexing is the leading proposal to overcome this challenge by relocating single photon from different modes to one fixed mode. The theoretical work [2] indicates that the relative time multiplexing (RMUX) scheme could significantly enhance this probability and meanwhile reduce the requirements of multiplexing system, such as switching speed and system complexity. In this paper, RMUX of two heralded single photon sources is demonstrated for the first time. We observe around 90% enhancement on the heralded photon pair rate, compared to the standard time multiplexing (SMUX) scheme [3].

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)•Jun 1, 2017•0 citations

High probability multiplexed multi-port single-photon source based on combinatorial heralding

Baojie Hou, Haoran Ma, Zichao Zhao +11 more

Scalable quantum photonic technologies require the simultaneous production of highly indistinguishable multi-photon states with high probability. This need may be met, and the output probability significantly increased by multiplexed sources, which channel numerous low-probability heralded single-photon sources into a specified output mode using time or spatial multiplexing. However, conventional methods merely replicate these multiplexing units when scaled to multiple output modes, which is fundamentally inefficient because it discards many valid multi-photon events. To address this, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel multiplexing source architecture based on a multi-input/multi-output switching network, which can utilize combinatorial photon events. A super-exponential enhancement in multi-port single-photon creation is revealed by theoretical analysis, which significantly reduces the number of heralded single-photon sources needed. We demonstrate multiplexing with two output ports, supported by four integrated heralded single-photon sources. Our strategy has a generation probability of 1.60 times that of conventional methods and 2.58 times that of implementations without multiplexing. This multi-port multiplexed method opens a new avenue for establishing a solid foundation for advanced multi-photon quantum interference and large-scale quantum information processing.

npj Quantum Information•Aug 11, 2026•0 citations

Experimental generation of single photons via active multiplexing

Xiao‐Song Ma, Stefan Zotter, Johannes Kofler +2 more

An on-demand single-photon source is a fundamental building block in quantum science and technology. We experimentally demonstrate the proof of concept for a scheme to generate on-demand single photons via actively multiplexing several heralded photons probabilistically produced from pulsed spontaneous parametric down-conversions (SPDCs). By utilizing a four-photon-pair source, an active feed-forward technique, and an ultrafast single-photon router, we show a fourfold enhancement of the output photon rate. Simultaneously, we maintain the quality of the output single-photon states, confirmed by correlation measurements. We also experimentally verify, via Hong-Ou-Mandel interference, that the router does not affect the indistinguishability of the single photons. Furthermore, we give numerical simulations, which indicate that photons based on multiplexing of four SPDC sources can outperform the heralding based on highly advanced photon-number-resolving detectors. Our results show a route for on-demand single-photon generation and the practical realization of scalable linear optical quantum-information processing.

arXiv:1007.4798•Physical Review A•Apr 13, 2011•211 citations

Indistinguishable heralded single photon generation via relative temporal multiplexing of two sources

X. Zhang, Y. H. Lee, Bryn A. Bell +4 more

Generating N single photons simultaneously is a formidable challenge due to the lack of deterministic single photon sources. Recent work [New J. Phys. 19, 063013 (2017] has proposed a relative multiplexing scheme that can enhance the N single photons probability with a minimum of active switching resources. We experimentally demonstrate relative temporal multiplexing on two photon sources with a 90% additional enhancement over the standard temporal multiplexing scheme demonstrated previously. 88 ± 11% visibility of Hong-Ou-Mandel quantum interference verifies the indistinguishability of the heralded single photons after the synchronization. This proof-of-principle demonstration points out the potential significance of the relative multiplexing scheme for large-scale photonic quantum information processing.

Optics Express•Oct 11, 2017•15 citations
Summary form only given. Heralded single-photon sources (HSPS) are widely used in experimental quantum science because they have negligibly small jitter and can therefore achieve high visibility for quantum interference. However, it is necessary to decrease the photon generation rate to suppress multi-photon components. To address this problem, two methods have been proposed and discussed: spatial (or temporal) source multiplexing [1, 2] and photon-pair number discrimination [3]. Here, we report the first experimental realization of a HSPS combining these two methods that can suppress the two-photon probability to 44.2 ± 0.7% of that of a normal HSPS [4]. We also provide a theoretical analysis and a discussion of the effect of combining the two methods, considering a detector cascade as a practical photon number discriminating detector. The experimental results agreed well with the theoretical predictions.
Heralded single-photon sources (HSPS) are widely used in experimental quantum science because they have negligibly small jitter and can therefore achieve high visibility for quantum interference. However, it is necessary to decrease the photon generation rate to suppress multi-photon components. To address this problem, two methods have been proposed and discussed: spatial (or temporal) source multiplexing and photon-pair number discrimination. Here, we report the experimental realization of a HSPS combining these two methods that can suppress the two-photon probability to 44.2 ± 0.7% of that of a normal HSPS. We also provide a theoretical analysis and a discussion of the effect of combining the two methods, considering a detector cascade as a practical photon number discriminating detector. The experimental results agreed well with the theoretical predictions.
Heralded single photon sources (HSPS) using spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) are widely used in photonic quantum information. However, the excess-photon pair generation in SPDC process is a problem, which results in the events where more than two photons exist in a pulse. Such excess photons degrade the visibility (V) of two-photon Hong-Ou-Mandel interference, and are one of the main error causes in the advanced linear optics photonic circuits. Recently, we have developed a novel HSPS which combines two methods to suppress such excess photon numbers. The first method (A) is to use multiple SPDC sources in one HSPS, where upon the detection of the idler photon from one of the source, the corresponding signal photon is output. The second method (B) is to use cascaded detectors to monitor the photon-pair number generated from the source, where the detector distinguish the single-pair generation from multi-pair generation and thus the excess-photon generation can be suppressed. In this presentation, we report the theoretical calculations how such a source can improve the visibility for a two photon interference. For example, when the average number of pairs from SPDC in a pulse is 0.1, and the detection efficiency is 70%, V= 83.2% for a conventional HSPS. V is improved to 90.3%, 87.1% and 92.7% by using method A, B and our hybrid approach, respectively.
Interference between single photons lies at the heart of linear optical quantum computing (LOQC). However, the lack of deterministic single photon sources hinders the large-scale experimental demonstration and its practical applications, as the probability to generate N single photons simultaneously (denoted by N-photon hereafter) decreases exponentially with the increasing number of single photon sources [1]. Multiplexing is the leading proposal to overcome this challenge by relocating single photon from different modes to one fixed mode. The theoretical work [2] indicates that the relative time multiplexing (RMUX) scheme could significantly enhance this probability and meanwhile reduce the requirements of multiplexing system, such as switching speed and system complexity. In this paper, RMUX of two heralded single photon sources is demonstrated for the first time. We observe around 90% enhancement on the heralded photon pair rate, compared to the standard time multiplexing (SMUX) scheme [3].
Scalable quantum photonic technologies require the simultaneous production of highly indistinguishable multi-photon states with high probability. This need may be met, and the output probability significantly increased by multiplexed sources, which channel numerous low-probability heralded single-photon sources into a specified output mode using time or spatial multiplexing. However, conventional methods merely replicate these multiplexing units when scaled to multiple output modes, which is fundamentally inefficient because it discards many valid multi-photon events. To address this, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel multiplexing source architecture based on a multi-input/multi-output switching network, which can utilize combinatorial photon events. A super-exponential enhancement in multi-port single-photon creation is revealed by theoretical analysis, which significantly reduces the number of heralded single-photon sources needed. We demonstrate multiplexing with two output ports, supported by four integrated heralded single-photon sources. Our strategy has a generation probability of 1.60 times that of conventional methods and 2.58 times that of implementations without multiplexing. This multi-port multiplexed method opens a new avenue for establishing a solid foundation for advanced multi-photon quantum interference and large-scale quantum information processing.
An on-demand single-photon source is a fundamental building block in quantum science and technology. We experimentally demonstrate the proof of concept for a scheme to generate on-demand single photons via actively multiplexing several heralded photons probabilistically produced from pulsed spontaneous parametric down-conversions (SPDCs). By utilizing a four-photon-pair source, an active feed-forward technique, and an ultrafast single-photon router, we show a fourfold enhancement of the output photon rate. Simultaneously, we maintain the quality of the output single-photon states, confirmed by correlation measurements. We also experimentally verify, via Hong-Ou-Mandel interference, that the router does not affect the indistinguishability of the single photons. Furthermore, we give numerical simulations, which indicate that photons based on multiplexing of four SPDC sources can outperform the heralding based on highly advanced photon-number-resolving detectors. Our results show a route for on-demand single-photon generation and the practical realization of scalable linear optical quantum-information processing.
Generating N single photons simultaneously is a formidable challenge due to the lack of deterministic single photon sources. Recent work [New J. Phys. 19, 063013 (2017] has proposed a relative multiplexing scheme that can enhance the N single photons probability with a minimum of active switching resources. We experimentally demonstrate relative temporal multiplexing on two photon sources with a 90% additional enhancement over the standard temporal multiplexing scheme demonstrated previously. 88 ± 11% visibility of Hong-Ou-Mandel quantum interference verifies the indistinguishability of the heralded single photons after the synchronization. This proof-of-principle demonstration points out the potential significance of the relative multiplexing scheme for large-scale photonic quantum information processing.