Single photon frequency up-conversion and its applications

Published

October 12, 2012

Author(s)

Lijun Ma, Oliver T. Slattery, Xiao Tang

Abstract

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has adapted a frequency up-conversion technique to develop highly efficient and sensitive single photon detectors and spectrometer for use at telecommunications wavelengths. The NIST team used these single photon up-conversion detectors and spectrometer in a variety of pioneering research projects including the implementation of a quantum key distribution system; the demonstration of a detector with a temporal resolution beyond the jitter limitation of commercial single photon detectors; the characterization of an entangled photon pair source, including a direct spectrum measurement for photons generated in spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC); the characterization of single photons from quantum dots including the measurement of carrier lifetime with escalated high accuracy and the demonstration of the converted quantum dot photons preserving their non-classical features; the observation of 2nd, 3rd and 4th order temporal correlations of NIR single photons from coherent and pseudo-thermal sources following frequency up-conversion; a study on the time-resolving measurement capability of the detectors using the short pulse pump and; the revealing of possibilities to modulate a single photon wave packet for a better interfacing of independent sources. In this article, we will present an overview on the frequency up-conversion technique, introduce its applications in quantum information systems and discuss its unique features and prospects for the future.

Citation

Physics Reports-Review Section of Physics Letters

Volume

521

Issue

2

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physrep.2012.07.006.

Local Download

Keywords

Frequency Up-conversion, Single photon detection, Quantum information.

Citation

Ma, L. , Slattery, O. and Tang, X. (2012), Single photon frequency up-conversion and its applications, Physics Reports-Review Section of Physics Letters, [online], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physrep.2012.07.006., https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=910905 (Accessed October 6, 2025)