Improving the Indistinguishability of Single Photons from an Ion-Cavity System

TL;DR

This paper presents a new scheme for generating highly indistinguishable single photons from an ion-cavity system, improving visibility in quantum interference experiments crucial for quantum networks.

Contribution

It introduces a cavity-assisted Raman transition scheme that suppresses spontaneous emission, enhancing photon indistinguishability compared to previous methods.

Findings

Achieved 72% visibility in Hong-Ou-Mandel interference without background correction.

Demonstrated improved photon indistinguishability over standard schemes.

Potential applications in quantum computing and communication networks.

Abstract

We investigate schemes for generating indistinguishable single photons, a key feature of quantum networks, from a trapped ion coupled to an optical cavity. Through selection of the initial state in a cavity-assisted Raman transition, we suppress the detrimental effect of spontaneous emission present in previously demonstrated schemes in similar systems. We measure a visibility of 72(2)% without correction for background counts in a Hong-Ou-Mandel interference measurement for the new scheme, with 51(2)% for a commonly-used scheme with similar parameters. Schemes such as the one demonstrated here have applications in distributed quantum computing and communications, where high fidelities are vital, and depend on the mutual indistinguishability of single photons.