An ultrafast polarised single photon source at 220 K

TL;DR

This paper reports a novel ultrafast, polarised single photon source operating at 220 K, demonstrating stable quantum emission properties suitable for scalable on-chip quantum communication.

Contribution

It introduces the first device achieving stable, polarised single photon emission at temperatures above 200 K with high repetition rate and simple fabrication.

Findings

Single photon emission with g(2)(0) of 0.21

Polarisation degree of 0.80 maintained at 220 K

GHz repetition rate with 357 ps lifetime

Abstract

A crucial requirement for the realisation of efficient and scalable on-chip quantum communication is an ultrafast polarised single photon source operating beyond the Peltier cooling barrier of 200 K. While a few systems based on different materials and device structures have achieved single photon generation above this threshold, there has been no report of single quantum emitters with deterministic polarisation properties at the same high temperature conditions. Here, we report the first device to simultaneously achieve single photon emission with a g(2)(0) of only 0.21, a high polarisation degree of 0.80, a fixed polarisation axis determined by the underlying crystallography, and a GHz repetition rate with a radiative lifetime of 357 ps at 220 K. The temperature insensitivity of these properties, together with the simple planar growth method, and absence of complex device geometries, makes this system an excellent candidate for on-chip applications in integrated systems.