The realization of an ultra-fast source of heralded single photons emitted at the wavelength of 1540 nm is reported. The presented strategy is based on state-of-the-art telecom technology, combined with off-the-shelf fiber components and waveguide non-linear stages pumped by a 10 GHz repetition rate laser. The single photons are heralded at a rate as high as 2.1 MHz with a heralding efficiency of 42%. Single photon character of the source is inferred by measuring the second-order autocorrelation function. For the highest heralding rate, a value as low as 0.023 is found. This not only proves negligible multi-photon contributions but also represents the best measured value reported to date for heralding rates in the MHz regime. These prime performances, associated with a device-like configuration, are key ingredients for both fast and secure quantum communication protocols.
@article{arxiv.1412.5427,
title = {Ultra-fast heralded single photon source based on telecom technology},
author = {Lutfi Arif Ngah and Olivier Alibart and Laurent Labonté and Virginia D'Auria and Sébastien Tanzilli},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1412.5427},
year = {2015}
}