2021/02/25 by Pietro Lombardi, Maja Colautti, Lombardi, Pietro +9
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications #Optics (physics.optics) #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #Quantum optics and atomic interactions #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2102.13055
openalex publication_date 2021/02/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Single molecules in solid-state matrices have been proposed as sources of single-photon Fock states back 20 years ago. Their success in quantum optics and in many other research fields stems from the simple recipes used in the preparation of samples, with hundreds of nominally identical and isolated molecules. Main challenges as of today for their application in photonic quantum technologies are the optimization of light extraction and the on-demand emission of indistinguishable photons. We here present Hong-Ou-Mandel experiments with photons emitted by a single molecule of dibenzoterrylene in an anthracene nanocrystal at 3 K, under continuous wave and also pulsed excitation. A detailed theoretical model is applied, which relies on independent measurements for most experimental parameters, hence allowing for an analysis of the different contributions to the two-photon interference visibility, from residual dephasing to spectral filtering.