Second-order photon correlation measurement with picosecond resolution using frequency upconversion

Aymeric Delteil (1) , Chun Tat Ngai , Thomas Fink , Ataç İmamoğlu (2)

1 GEMAC - Groupe d'Etude de la Matière Condensée
2 IQE - Institute of Quantum Electronics [ETH Zürich]

The second-order correlation function of light g (2) (τ) constitutes a pivotal tool to quantify the quantum behavior of an emitter and in turn its potential for quantum information applications. The experimentally accessible time resolution of g (2) (τ) is usually limited by the jitter of available single photon detectors. Here, we present a versatile technique allowing to measure g (2) (τ) from a large variety of light signals with a time resolution given by the pulse length of a mode-locked laser. The technique is based on frequency upconversion in a nonlinear waveguide, and we analyze its properties and limitations by modeling the pulse propagation and the frequency conversion process. We measure g (2) (τ) from various signals including light from a quantum emitter-a confined exciton-polariton structure-revealing its quantum signatures at a scale of a few picoseconds and demonstrating the capability of the technique.

Domaines: Physique Quantique [quant-ph]; Optique [physics.optics]; Autre [cond-mat.other]

Aymeric Delteil, Chun Tat Ngai, Thomas Fink, Ataç İmamoğlu. Second-order photon correlation measurement with picosecond resolution using frequency upconversion. Optics Letters, 2019, 44 (15), pp.3877. ⟨10.1364/OL.44.003877⟩. ⟨hal-02409358⟩