Third-order antibunching from an imperfect single-photon source

Published

February 4, 2014

Author(s)

Martin J. Stevens, Scott C. Glancy, Sae Woo Nam, Richard P. Mirin

Abstract

We measure second- and third-order temporal coherences, g⁽²⁾(τ) and g⁽³⁾(τ1, τ2), of an optically excited single-photon source: an InGaAs quantum dot in a microcavity pedestal. Increasing the optical excitation power leads to an increase in the measured count rate, and also an increase in multi-photon emission probability. We show that standard measurements of g⁽²⁾ provide limited information about this multi-photon probability, and that more information can be gained by simultaneously measuring g⁽³⁾. Experimental results are compared with a simple theoretical model to show that the observed antibunchings are consistent with an incoherent addition of two sources: 1) an ideal single-photon source that never emits multiple photons and 2) a background cavity emission having Poissonian photon number statistics. Spectrally resolved cross-correlation measurements between quantum-dot and cavity modes show that photons from these two sources are largely uncorrelated, further supporting the model. We also analyze the Hanbury Brown-Twiss interferometer implemented with two or three "click" detectors, and explore the conditions under which it can be used to accurately measure g⁽²⁾(τ) and g⁽³⁾(τ1,τ2).

Citation

Optics Express

Volume

22

Issue

3

Pub Type

Journals

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DOI Link

Keywords

Coherent optical effects, Photon statistics, Photon counting, Single-photon sources, Single-photon detectors

Citation

Stevens, M. , Glancy, S. , Nam, S. and Mirin, R. (2014), Third-order antibunching from an imperfect single-photon source, Optics Express, [online], https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.22.003244 (Accessed April 25, 2024)