Single-photons on demand

Planck’s assumption of electromagnetic energy quantization and Einstein’s hypothesis of light quanta (or photons) introduced the wave-particle duality of light and led to the quantum effects, such as quantum vacuum fluctuations and quantum entanglement; novel technologies now make it possible for us to create and detect single photons on demand. In this project, we characterize experimentally the single photon emission from quantum dots, colour centre in diamond, and 2D materials, measuring second-order autocorrelation functions using single-photon counting in a confocal fluorescent microscope. We do this by engineering the defects, cavities, and waveguides at the wavelength scale to create devices with optimized structures for maximal photon emission and collection efficiency into useful modes.

Publications:

  1. F. Ortiz-Huerta, L. Chen, M. P. C. Taverne, J.P. Hadden, M. Johnson, Y.-L.D. Ho, and J.G. Rarity, “Fabrication of hybrid Fabry-Perot microcavity using two-photon lithography for single-photon sources”, Opt. Express 26, 33245-33252 (2018).
  2. L. Marseglia, J. P. Hadden, A. C. Stanley-Clarke, J. P. Harrison, B. Patton, Y.-L. D. Ho, B. Naydenov, F. Jelezko, J. Meijer, J. G. Rarity, and J. L. O’Brien, “Nanofabricated solid immersion lenses registered to single emitters in diamond”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 98, 133107 (2011).
  3. S. Castelletto, J. P. Harrison, L. Marseglia, A. C. Stanley-Clarke, B. C. Gibson, B. A. Fairchild, J. P. Hadden, Y.-L. D. Ho, M. P. Hiscocks, K. Ganesan, S. T. Huntington, F. Ladouceur, A. D. Greentree, S. Prawer, J. L. O’Brien, and J. G. Rarity, “Diamond-based structures to collect and guide light”, New J. Phys.13, 025020 (2011).
  4. J. P. Hadden, J. P. Harrison, A. C. Stanley-Clarke, L. Marseglia, Y.-L. D. Ho, B. R. Patton, J. L. O’Brien, and J. G. Rarity, “Strongly enhanced photon collection from diamond defect centers under microfabricated integrated solid immersion lenses”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 241901 (2010).
  5. Y.-L. D. Ho*, T. Cao, P. S. Ivanov, M. J. Cryan, , I. J. Craddock, C. J. Railton, and J. G. Rarity, “Three-Dimensional FDTD Simulation of Micro-pillar Microcavity Geometries Suitable for Efficient Single-photon Sources” IEEE J. Quantum Electron., 43, 462–472 (2007).
  6. Y.-L. D. Ho*, R. Gibson, C. Y. Hu, M. J. Cryan, I. J. Craddock, C. J. Railton, J. G. Rarity, P. J. Heard, D. Sanvitto, A. Daraei, M. Hopkinson, J. A. Timpson, A. Tahraoui, P. P. S. Guimaraes, and M. S. Skolnick, “Focused ion beam etching for the fabrication of micro-pillar micro-cavities made of III-V semiconductor materials”, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 25, 1197–1202 (2007).
  7. D. M. Whittaker, P. S. S. Guimaraes, D. Sanvitto, H. Vinck, S. Lam, A. Daraei, J. A. Timpson, A. M. Fox, M. S. Skolnick, Y.-L. D. Ho, J. G. Rarity, M. Hopkinson, and A. Tahraoui, “High Q modes in elliptical microcavity pillars”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 161105 (2007).
  8. J. A. Timpson, S. Lam, D. Sanvitto, D. M. Whittaker, H. Vinck, A. Daraei, P. S. S. Guimaraes, M. S. Skolnick , A. M. Fox, C. Hu, Y.-L. D. Ho, R. Gibson, J. G. Rarity, A. Tahraoui, M. Hopkinson, P. W. Fry, S. Pellegrini, K. J. Gordon, R. E. Warburton, and G. S. Buller, “Single photon sources based upon single quantum dots in semiconductor microcavity pillars”, J. Mod. Opt., 54, 453–465 (2007).
  9. Y.-L. D. Ho*, T. Cao, P. S. Ivanov, M. J. Cryan, I. J. Craddock, C. J. Railton, and J. G. Rarity, “Optimal design of single-photon sources emission from a quantum-dot in micro-pillar microcavity”, Int. J. Quant. Inf. 3, 229 (2005).

Collaborators: