Related papers: Simultaneous, full characterization of a single-ph…
The ultimate sensitivity of optical measurements is a key element of many recent works. Classically, it is mainly limited by the shot noise limit. However, a measurement setup that incorporates quantum mechanical principles can surpass the…
Single photon detectors are fundamental tools of investigation in quantum optics and play a central role in measurement theory and quantum informatics. Photodetectors based on different technologies exist at optical frequencies and much…
Detector stochastic deviations from an ideal response can hamper the measurement of quantum properties of light especially in the mesoscopic regime where photon-number resolution is required. We demonstrate that, by a proper analysis of the…
Silicon Photomultipliers are potentially ideal detectors for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information studies based on mesoscopic states of light. However, their non-idealities hampered their use so far. An optimal mode of operation has been…
Quantum communication networks rely on quantum cryptographic protocols including quantum key distribution (QKD) using single photons. A critical element regarding the security of QKD protocols is the photon number coherence (PNC), i.e. the…
We report on the triggered generation of indistinguishable photons by solid-state single-photon sources in two separate cryogenic laser scanning microscopes. Organic fluorescent molecules were used as emitters and investigated by means of…
We analyze the statistics of photons originating from amplified spontaneous emission generated by a quantum dot superluminescent diode. Experimentally detectable emission properties are taken into account by parametrizing the corresponding…
We report the implementation of a high-rate source of single and two-photon states. By combining the advantages of short pulses and cavities, heralding rates up to 250kHz with 88% fidelity have been obtained for the single photons as well…
A photon-number-resolving detector based on a four-element superconducting nanowire single photon detector is demonstrated to have sub-30-ps resolution in measuring the arrival time of individual photons. This detector can be used to…
Single photons provide excellent quantum information carriers, but current schemes for preparing, processing and measuring them are inefficient. For example, down-conversion provides heralded, but randomly timed single photons, while…
Single-photon sources are necessary components for many prospective quantum technologies. One candidate for a single-photon source is spontaneous parametric down conversion combined with a heralding photon detection. The heralded light…
Photonic quantum computers are currently one of the primary candidates for fault-tolerant quantum computation. At the heart of the photonic quantum computation lies the strict requirement for suitable quantum sources e.g. high purity, high…
In this chapter we review the use of semiconductor quantum dots as sources of quantum light. Principally, we focus on resonant two-photon excitation, which is a method that allows for on-demand generation of photon pairs. We explore the…
Single photon emitters are indispensable to photonic quantum technologies. Here we demonstrate waveform-controlled high-purity single photons from room-temperature colloidal quantum dots. The purity of the single photons does not vary with…
Semiconductor quantum dots in microcavities are an excellent platform for the efficient generation of indistinguishable single photons. However, their use in a wide range of quantum technologies requires their controlled fabrication and…
Although some non-trivial photon number resolving detectors exist, it may still be convenient to discriminate photon number states with the method of multiplexed detection. Multiplexing can be performed with paths in real space, with paths…
Although the canonical phase of light, which is defined as the complement of photon number, has been described theoretically by a variety of distinct approaches, there have been no methods proposed for its measurement. Indeed doubts have…
We demonstrate the possibility of a self-consistent characterization of the photon-number statistics of a light field by using photoemissive detectors with internal gain simply endowed with linear input/output responses. The method can be…
Boson-sampling has attracted much interest as a simplified approach to implementing a subset of optical quantum computing. Boson-sampling requires indistinguishable photons, but far fewer of them than universal optical quantum computing…
The influence of bright light on a single-photon detector has been described in a number of recent publications. The impact on quantum key distribution (QKD) is important, and several hacking experiments have been tailored to fully control…