Single-photon sources are crucial for quantum information technologies. Here, we demonstrate a microwave single-photon source fabricated using a tantalum-based thin film, whose favorable material properties enable high-quality and stable photon emission. The antibunching behavior of the emitted radiation is revealed by second-order correlation measurements. Furthermore, traveling-wave parametric amplifiers are used as the pre-amplifier in the detection chains, we substantially improve the signal-to-noise ratio and thereby greatly reduce the acquisition time required for second-order correlation measurements. These results demonstrate the viability of tantalum-based superconducting devices as reliable platforms for microwave quantum photonics.
@article{arxiv.2512.07589,
title = {On-Demand Microwave Single-Photon Source Based on Tantalum Thin Film},
author = {Ying Hu and Sheng-Yong Li and En-Qi Chen and Jing Zhang and Yu-xi Liu and Jia-Gui Feng and Zhihui Peng},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.07589},
year = {2026}
}