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Advanced Photon Counting Techniques

Next-generation single photon sources for satellite-based quantum communication

Tobias Vogl, Sebastian Ritter, Mostafa Abasifard, Josefine Krause, Heiko Knopf, Falk X. Eilenberger

Published May 27, 2022• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present a room temperature single photon source based on a color center in hexagonal boron nitride for satellite-based quantum networks. The resonator-coupled emitter is characterized by a narrowband tuneable spectrum, high photon purity, and high quantum efficiency. The photon source is currently integrated on a 3U CubeSat to qualify it for use in a future satellite-based global quantum-encrypted network. The satellite also performs a fundamental test of quantum gravity.

DOI
10.1117/12.2616859

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Sources of pure and indistinguishable single-photons are critical for near-future optical quantum technologies. Recently, color centers hosted by two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) have emerged as a promising platform for high luminosity room temperature single-photon sources. Despite the brightness of the emitters, the spectrum is rather broad and the single-photon purity is not sufficient for practical quantum information processing. Here, we report integration of such a quantum emitter hosted by hBN into a tunable optical microcavity. A small mode volume of the order of λ 3 allows us to Purcell enhance the fluorescence, with the observed excited state lifetime shortening. The cavity significantly narrows the spectrum and improves the single-photon purity by suppression of off-resonant noise. The complete device, including all optics, driving electronics, and control units, is compact and integrated in a small volume of 10 × 10 × 10 cm 3, allowing for portable usage in mobile applications.
Quantum theory is the foundation of modern physics.Some of its basic principles, such as Born's rule, however, are based on postulates which require experimental testing.Any deviation from Born's rule would result in higher-order interference and can thus be tested in an experiment.Here, we report on such a test with a quantum light source based on a color center in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) coupled to a microcavity.Our room-temperature photon source features a narrow-linewidth, high-efficiency, high-purity, and on-demand single-photon generation.With the single-photon source we can increase the interferometric sensitivity of our three-path interferometer compared to conventional laser-based light sources by fully suppressing the detector nonlinearity.We thereby obtain a tight bound on the third-order interference term of 3.96(523) × 10 -4 .We also measure an interference visibility of 98.58% for our single photons emitted from hBN at room temperature, which provides a promising route for using the hBN platform as light source for phase-encoding schemes in quantum key distribution.
High-purity single-photon sources (SPS) that can operate at room temperature are highly desirable for a myriad of applications, including quantum photonics and quantum key distribution. In this work, we realize an ultra-bright solid-state SPS based on an atomic defect in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) integrated with a solid immersion lens (SIL). The SIL increases the source efficiency by a factor of six, and the integrated system is capable of producing over ten million single photons per second at room temperature. Our results are promising for practical applications of SPS in quantum communication protocols.