Improved Heralded Single-Photon Source with a Photon-Number-Resolving Superconducting Nanowire Detector

Journal Article · 01 December 2022 · Phys.Rev.Applied

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.18.064007· OSTI ID:1922105

Davis, Samantha I.  ^[1]; Mueller, Andrew ^[2]; Valivarthi, Raju  ^[1]; Lauk, Nikolai ^[1]; Narvaez, Lautaro ^[1]; Korzh, Boris ^[3]; Beyer, Andrew D. ^[3]; Cerri, Olmo ^[4]; Colangelo, Marco ^[5]; Berggren, Karl K. ^[5]; Shaw, Matthew D. ^[3]; Xie, Si  ^[6]; Sinclair, Neil ^[7]; Spiropulu, Maria  ^[1]

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1. Caltech, Pasadena (main); Caltech
2. Caltech, Pasadena (main); Caltech; Caltech, JPL
3. Caltech, JPL
4. Caltech
5. MIT
6. Caltech; Fermilab
7. Caltech, Pasadena (main); Caltech; Harvard U.

Deterministic generation of single photons is essential for many quantum information technologies. A bulk optical nonlinearity emitting a photon pair, where the measurement of one of the photons heralds the presence of the other, is commonly used with the caveat that the single-photon emission rate is constrained due to a trade-off between multiphoton events and pair emission rate. Using an efficient and low noise photon-number-resolving superconducting nanowire detector we herald, in real time, a single photon at telecommunication wavelength. We perform a second-order photon correlation $g^2\left(0\right)$ measurement of the signal mode conditioned on the measured photon number of the idler mode for various pump powers and demonstrate an improvement of a heralded single-photon source. We develop an analytical model using a phase-space formalism that encompasses all multiphoton effects and relevant imperfections, such as loss and multiple Schmidt modes. We perform a maximum-likelihood fit to test the agreement of the model to the data and extract the best-fit mean photon number $\mu$ of the pair source for each pump power. A maximum reduction of $0.118\pm 0.012$ in the photon $g^2\left(0\right)$ correlation function at $\mu =0.327\pm 0.007$ is obtained, indicating a strong suppression of multiphoton emissions. For a fixed $g^2\left(0\right)=7\times {10}^{-3}$, we increase the single pair generation probability by 25%. Our experiment, built using fiber-coupled and off-the-shelf components, delineates a path to engineering ideal sources of single photons.

• Research Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-07CH11359
• OSTI ID: 1922105
• Report Number(s): FERMILAB-PUB-22-950-QIS; arXiv:2112.11430; oai:inspirehep.net:1995330
• Journal Information: Phys.Rev.Applied, Vol. 18, Issue 6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English