Abstract
We present a predictable single-photon source (SPS) based
on a silicon vacancy centre in nanodiamond which is
optically excited by a pulsed laser. At an excitation
rate of 70 MHz the source delivers a photon flux large
enough to be measured by a low optical flux detector
(LOFD). The directly measured photon flux constitutes an
absolute reference. By changing the repetition rate of
the pulsed laser, we are able to change the photon flux
of our SPS in a controllable way which in turn can act as
a reference. The advantage of our method is that it does
not require precise knowledge of the source efficiency,
but the source is calibrated by the LOFD and can be used
for detector responsivity characterizations at the
few-photon level.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 218-223 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Metrologia |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 21 Mar 2017 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Keywords
- low optical flux detector
- photon on demand
- silicon vacancy centrer
- single photon metrology
- single photon sources