A single-photon turnstile device

J. Kim, O. Benson, H. Kan and Y. Yamamoto
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J. Kim: ERATO Quantum Fluctuation Project, Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory, Stanford University
O. Benson: ERATO Quantum Fluctuation Project, Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory, Stanford University
H. Kan: ERATO Quantum Fluctuation Project, Hamamatsu Photonics Inc.
Y. Yamamoto: ERATO Quantum Fluctuation Project, Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory, Stanford University

Nature, 1999, vol. 397, issue 6719, 500-503

Abstract: Abstract Quantum-mechanical interference between indistinguishable quantum particles profoundly affects their arrival time and counting statistics. Photons from a thermal source tend to arrive together (bunching) and their counting distribution is broader than the classical Poisson limit1. Electrons from a thermal source, on the other hand, tend to arrive separately (anti-bunching) and their counting distribution is narrower than the classical Poisson limit2,3,4. Manipulation of quantum-statistical properties of photons with various non-classical sources is at the heart of quantum optics: features normally characteristic of fermions — such as anti-bunching, sub-poissonian and squeezing (sub-shot-noise) behaviours — have now been demonstrated5. A single-photon turnstile device was proposed6,7,8 to realize an effect similar to conductance quantization. Only one electron can occupy a single state owing to the Pauli exclusion principle and, for an electron waveguide that supports only one propagating transverse mode, this leads to the quantization of electrical conductance: the conductance of each propagating mode is then given by GQ = e2/h (where e is the charge of the electron and h is Planck's constant; ref. 9). Here we report experimental progress towards generation of a similar flow of single photons with a well regulated time interval.

Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.1038/17295

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