Quantum Frequency Conversion of Single Photons from a Nitrogen-Vacancy Center in Diamond to Telecommunication Wavelengths
At a Glance
Section titled āAt a Glanceā| Metadata | Details |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 2018-06-19 |
| Journal | Physical Review Applied |
| Authors | AnaĆÆs DrĆ©au, Anna Tcheborateva, Aboubakr El Mahdaoui, Cristian Bonato, Ronald Hanson |
| Institutions | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UniversitƩ de Montpellier |
| Citations | 120 |
Abstract
Section titled āAbstractāWe report on the conversion to telecom wavelength of single photons emitted\nby a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect in diamond. By means of difference frequency\ngeneration, we convert spin-selective photons at 637 nm, associated with the\ncoherent NV zero-phonon-line, to the target wavelength of 1588 nm in the\nL-telecom band. The successful conversion is evidenced by time-resolved\ndetection revealing a telecom photon lifetime identical to that of the original\n637 nm photon. Furthermore, we show by second-order correlation measurements\nthat the single-photon statistics are preserved. The overall efficiency of this\none-step conversion reaches 17\% in our current setup, along with a\nsignal-to-noise ratio of $\approx$7 despite the low probability $(< 10^{-3})$\nof an incident 637 nm photon. This result shows the potential for efficient\ntelecom photon - NV center interfaces and marks an important step towards\nfuture long-range entanglement-based quantum networks.\n