Indistinguishable Photons from a Single Molecule under Pulsed Excitation

Abstract

Quantum light sources are crucial for the future of quantum photonic technologies and, among them, single photons on-demand are key resources in quantum communications and information processing. Ideal quantum emitters providing indistinguishable photons in a clocked manner, negligible decoherence and spectral diffusion, and with potential for scalability are today still a major challenge. We report on photostable and indistinguishable single photon emission from dibenzoterrylene molecules isolated in anthracene nanocrystals (DBT:Ac NCs) at 3K. The visibility of two-photon interference is preserved even when they are separated more than thirty times the excited-state lifetime, or ten fluorescence cycles. One of the advantages of organic molecules is the low-cost mass production of nominally identical emitters, that also allow for on-chip integration. These aspects combined with high spectral stability and coherence make them promising for applications and future quantum technologies.