Quantum Nature of Light Measured With a Single Detector

Abstract

We realized the most fundamental quantum optical experiment to prove the non-classical character of light: Only a single quantum emitter and a single superconducting nanowire detector were used. A particular appeal of our experiment is its elegance and simplicity. Yet its results unambiguously enforce a quantum theory for light. Previous experiments relied on more complex setups, such as the Hanbury-Brown-Twiss configuration, where a beam splitter directs light to two photodetectors, giving the false impression that the beam splitter is required. Our work results in a major simplification of the widely used photon-correlation techniques with applications ranging from quantum information processing to single-molecule detection.

7 pages

References in corpus (6)

• Experimental realization of Wheeler's delayed-choice GedankenExperiment
• A planar dielectric antenna for directional single-photon emission and near-unity collection efficiency
• High purity bright single photon source
• Ultra-bright and efficient single photon generation based on N-V centres in nanodiamonds on a solid immersion lens
• Shaping the Phase of a Single Photon
• Ultrashort dead time of photon-counting InGaAs avalanche photodiodes

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Probing Correlations, Indistinguishability and Entanglement in Microwave Two-Photon Interference
• Non-classical higher-order photon correlations with a quantum dot strongly coupled to a photonic-crystal nanocavity
• Quantum random number generator based on room-temperature single-photon emitter in gallium nitride
• Measuring higher-order photon correlations of faint quantum light: a short review
• Optimized higher-order photon state classification by machine learning
• Observation of photon antibunching with a single conventional detector
• Nb${}_x$Ti${}_{1-x}$N low timing jitter single-photon detectors with unity internal efficiency at 1550 nm and 2.5 K