Single Photons

The realization of single-photon sources with diverse materials and the applications quantum radiometry, quantum metrology and quantum communication.

Contributions to QuantumFrontiers

  • Collaboration for creating the best single-photon sources and required structures
  • Realisation of ultra-precise radiometric and photometric standards by single photon sources and detectors
  • Enablement of the control of electromagnetic fields at the single quantum level
  • Establishment of the Niedersachsen Quantum Link between LUH and PTB as a quantum communication testbed
  • Organization of a regular PhD seminar on Single Photons

Collaborative Innovation

  • Growing single-photon sources based on GaInN/GaN quantum dot pyramidal structures, micro-luminescence investigation and confocal microscopy on these samples (Kück PTB / Hangleiter TUBS)
  • Growing single-photon sources based on molecules, specifically the preparation of C60-molecules as protective layers for dibenzoterrylene (DBT) molecules and for embedding DBT into C60 molecules (Kück PTB / Schlickum TUBS) 
  • Diamond structuring using Focused Ion Beam (FIB) methods (Kück, PTB / Etzkorn TUBS)
  • Establishing a quantum key distribution channel between LUH and PTB based on different protocols (Ding LUH / Kück PTB)
  • Investigating the properties of defects in hexagonal boron nitride. (Schell LUH / Kück PTB)
  • Advancing light extraction from quantum dots using hybrid antennas (Ding LUH / Kück PTB)
  • Developing and characterizing bright sources of single photons based on GaIn/GaN pyramid structures and GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots (Kück PTB / Hangleiter TUBS)
  • Investigating the coupling of plasmonic nanostructures with GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots grown close to the semiconductor surface (Chichkov, Schell LUH)
  • Growing and characterizing molecular photon sources (Voss, Schlickum TUBS)
  • Development of detectors based on superconducting thin films (Raupach, Bieler, PTB)

Scientific Output

  • Publications
    Georgieva H, Stepanov P, Sewidan L, Pishchagin A, López M, Kück S. Metrological characterization of a commercial single-photon source with high photon flux emission. METROLOGIA. 2024 Jul 23;61(5):054001. doi: 10.1088/1681-7575/ad615e
    Christinck J, Hirt F, Hofer H, Liu Z, Etzkorn M, Dunatov T et al. Bright single-photon emission from a GeV center in diamond under a microfabricated solid immersion lens at room temperature. Journal of applied physics. 2023 May 21;133(19):193102. Epub 2023 May 16. doi: 10.1063/5.0150208
    Christinck J, Rodiek B, López M, Georgieva H, Hofer H, Götzinger S et al. Comparison of back focal plane imaging of nitrogen vacancy centers in nanodiamond and core-shell CdSe/CdS quantum dots. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 2022;2149(1):012014. doi: 10.1088/1742-6596/2149/1/012014
    Kück S, López M, Hofer H, Georgieva H, Christinck J, Rodiek B et al. Single photon sources for quantum radiometry: a brief review about the current state-of-the-art. Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics. 2022 Jan 23;128(2):28. doi: 10.1007/s00340-021-07734-2
    Sidikejiang S, Henning P, Horenburg P, Bremers H, Rossow U, Menzel D et al. Low-temperature internal quantum efficiency of GaInN/GaN quantum wells under steady-state conditions. Semiconductor Science and Technology. 2022 Jan 31;37(3):035017. 035017. doi: 10.1088/1361-6641/ac4b89
    Bruschi DE, Paraoanu GS, Fuentes I, Wilhelm FK, Schell AW. General solution of the time evolution of two interacting harmonic oscillators. Physical Review A. 2021 Feb 11;103(2):023707. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevA.103.023707
    Bruschi DE, Chatzinotas S, Wilhelm FK, Schell AW. Spacetime effects on wavepackets of coherent light. Physical Review D. 2021 Oct 11;104(8):085015. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.104.085015
    Cao X, Yang J, Li P, Zhang Y, Rugeramigabo EP, Brechtken B et al. Single photon emission from ODT passivated near-surface GaAs quantum dots. Applied physics letters. 2021 Jun 2;118(22):221107. doi: 10.1063/5.0046042
    Georgieva H, López M, Hofer H, Kanold N, Kaganskiy A, Rodt S et al. Absolute calibration of a single-photon avalanche detector using a bright triggered single-photon source based on an InGaAs quantum dot. Optics express. 2021 Jul 19;29(15):430680. doi: 10.1364/OE.430680
    Georgieva H, Meda A, Raupach SMF, Hofer H, Gramegna M, Degiovanni IP et al. Detection of ultra-weak laser pulses by free-running single-photon detectors: Modeling dead time and dark counts effects. Applied physics letters. 2021 Apr 26;118(17):174002. doi: 10.1063/5.0046014
    Henning P, Sidikejiang S, Horenburg P, Bremers H, Rossow U, Hangleiter A. Unity quantum efficiency in III-nitride quantum wells at low temperature: Experimental verification by time-resolved photoluminescence. Applied physics letters. 2021 Jul 8;119(1):011106. doi: 10.1063/5.0055368
    Krumbein L, Anggara K, Stella M, Michnowicz T, Ochner H, Abb S et al. Fast Molecular Compression by a Hyperthermal Collision Gives Bond-Selective Mechanochemistry. Physical review letters. 2021 Feb 1;126(5):056001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.056001
    Rossow U, Sidikejiang S, Hagag S, Horenburg P, Henning P, de Vasconcellos Lourenco R et al. Pyramid Formation by Etching of InxGa1−xN /GaN Quantum Well Structures Grown on N-face GaN for Nanooptical Light Emitters. Physica Status Solidi (B) Basic Research. 2021 Oct 8;258(10):2100085. Epub 2021 Jul 20. doi: 10.1002/pssb.202100085
    Tieben P, Shiyani B, Bahrami N, Schell AW. Spectroscopic Analysis of Defect Centers in hBN. In Proceedings of SPIE: Photonics for Quantum 2021: 12–16 July 2021 Online Only, United States. SPIE. 2021. 1184418. (Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering). doi: 10.1117/12.2600952
    Christinck J, Rodiek B, López M, Hofer H, Georgieva H, Kück S. Characterization of the angular-dependent emission of nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamond. Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics. 2020 Oct 1;126(10):161. doi: 10.1007/s00340-020-07508-2
    Georgieva H, López M, Hofer H, Christinck J, Rodiek B, Schnauber P et al. Radiometric characterization of a triggered narrow-bandwidth single-photon source and its use for the calibration of silicon single-photon avalanche detectors. METROLOGIA. 2020 Oct;57(5):055001. doi: 10.1088/1681-7575/ab9db6
    Michnowicz T, Borca B, Pétuya R, Schendel V, Pristl M, Pentegov I et al. Controlling Single Molecule Conductance by a Locally Induced Chemical Reaction on Individual Thiophene Units. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition. 2020 Apr 1;59(15):6207-6212. Epub 2020 Jan 22. doi: 10.1002/anie.201915200
    Wu X, Delbianco M, Anggara K, Michnowicz T, Pardo-Vargas A, Bharate P et al. Imaging single glycans. NATURE. 2020 Jun 18;582(7812):375-378. Epub 2020 Jun 17. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2362-1
    Yang J, Nawrath C, Keil R, Joos R, Zhang X, Höfer B et al. Quantum dot-based broadband optical antenna for efficient extraction of single photons in the telecom O-band. Optics express. 2020 Jun 22;28(13):19457-19468. Epub 2020 Jun 17. doi: 10.1364/OE.395367
    Zopf M, Keil R, Chen Y, Yang J, Chen D, Ding F et al. Entanglement Swapping with Semiconductor-Generated Photons Violates Bell's Inequality. Physical review letters. 2019 Oct 18;123(16):160502. Epub 2019 Oct 14. doi: 10.15488/5545, 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.160502

TG Members

  • Involved Members and their Relevant Expertise
    Members Institution Relevant Expertise
    Stefan Kück PTB Single-photon metrology, characterization of single-photon sources and detectors, Niedersachsen Quantum Link
    Boris Chichkov LUH Nanoscale materials processing; Laser micro-processing
    Uta Schlickum TUBS Light Excitation at the Single Molecular Level; Photon-STM investigations of III-V Semiconductors: growth and characterization of single photon sources
    Fei Ding LUH Intensity-squeezed single photon sources based on quantum dots; Growth of III-V semiconductor nanostructures, micro-photoluminescence and single-photon spectroscopy, micro- and nanofabrication Niedersachsen Quantum Link
    Markus Etzkorn TUBS Advancing TEM & SEM characterization and structuring; Structuring with FIB
    Ilja Gerhardt LUH Development and implementation of optical systems for quantum technologies; quantum communication
    Andreas Hangleiter TUBS GaInN/GaN quantum dot fabrication and investigation
    Michael Oestreich LUH Spin and charge carrier dynamics of complex semiconductor nanostructures
    Andreas Schell PTB/LUH Micro-photoluminescence and single-photon spectroscopy; micro- and nanofabrication; spectroscopy and photonic integration of quantum emitters
    Tobias Voss TUBS Molecular Quantum Emitters on GaN-based devices; AFM characterization of samples
    Heiko Bremers TUBS GaInN/GaN quantum dot fabrication and investigation
    Marco López PTB Single-photon metrology, characterization of single-photon sources and detectors, Niedersachsen Quantum Link
    Uwe Rossow TUBS GaInN/GaN quantum dot fabrication and investigation
    Ali Hreibi PTB Niedersachsen Quantum Link
    Hristina Georgieva PTB Single-photon metrology, characterization of semiconductor quantum dot based single-photon sources
    Beatrice Rodiek PTB Quantum radiometry
    Michael Zopf LUH Growth of III-V semiconductor nanostructures, micro-photoluminescence and single-photon spectroscopy, micro- and nanofabrication Niedersachsen Quantum Link
    Justus Christinck PTB Single-photon metrology, characterization of diamond-based single-photon sources
    Franziska Hirt PTB Single-photon metrology, characterization of molecule- and semiconductor-based single-photon sources
    Martin Kernbach LUH/PTB Optical trapping of nanoparticles
    Chenxi Ma LUH Growth of III-V semiconductor nanostructures, micro-photoluminescence and single-photon spectroscopy, micro- and nanofabrication
    Leonora Meier PTB Single-photon metrology, characterization of single-photon sources
    Neda Noei TUBS Growth of molecular-organic structures for single-photon sources
    Andreas Reutter TUBS Growth and characterization of molecular-organic structures for single-photon sources
    Simon Spelthann LUH Semiconductor quantum dot based single-photon sources
    Mike Stummvoll TUBS Growth and characterization of molecular-organic structures for single-photon sources
    Pablo Tieben LUH/PTB Micro-photoluminescence and single-photon spectroscopy
    Peter Jomo Walla TUBS