Plug&Play Fiber‐Coupled 73 kHz Single‐Photon Source Operating in the Telecom O‐Band
Anna Musiał, Kinga Żołnacz, Nicole Srocka, Oleh Kravets, Jan Große, Jacek Olszewski, Krzysztof Poturaj, Grzegorz Wójcik, Paweł Mergo, Kamil Dybka, Mariusz Dyrkacz, Michał Dłubek, Kristian Lauritsen, Andreas Bülter, Philipp‐Immanuel Schneider, Lin Zschiedrich, Sven Burger, Sven Rodt, Wacław Urbańczyk, Grzegorz Sęk, Stephan Reitzenstein
Abstract
Abstract A user‐friendly, fiber‐coupled, single‐photon source operating at telecom wavelengths is a key component of photonic quantum networks providing long‐haul, ultra‐secure data exchange. To take full advantage of quantum‐mechanical data protection and to maximize the transmission rate and distance, a true quantum source providing single photons on demand is highly desirable. This great challenge is tackled by developing a ready‐to‐use semiconductor quantum‐dot‐based device that launches single photons at a wavelength of 1.3 µm directly into a single‐mode optical fiber. In the proposed approach, the quantum dot is deterministically integrated into a nanophotonic structure to ensure efficient on‐chip coupling into a fiber. The whole arrangement is integrated into a 19ʺ compatible housing to enable stand‐alone operation by cooling via a compact Stirling cryocooler. The realized source delivers single photons with a multiphoton events probability as low as 0.15 and a single‐photon emission rate of up to 73 kHz into a standard telecom single‐mode fiber.