High purity bright single photon source

Using cavity-enhanced non-degenerate parametric downconversion, we have built a frequency tunable source of heralded single photons with a narrow bandwidth of 8 MHz, making it compatible with atomic quantum memories. The photon state is 70% pure single photon as characterized by a tomographic measurement and reconstruction of the quantum state, revealing a clearly negative Wigner function. Furthermore, it has a spectral brightness of ~1,500 photons/s per MHz bandwidth, making it one of the brightest single photon sources available. We also investigate the correlation function of the down-converted fields using a combination of two very distinct detection methods; photon counting and homodyne measurement.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures; minor changes, added referenc

Directly estimating non-classicality

We establish a method of directly measuring and estimating non-classicality - operationally defined in terms of the distinguishability of a given state from one with a positive Wigner function. It allows to certify non-classicality, based on possibly much fewer measurement settings than necessary for obtaining complete tomographic knowledge, and is at the same time equipped with a full certificate. We find that even from measuring two conjugate variables alone, one may infer the non-classicality of quantum mechanical modes. This method also provides a practical tool to eventually certify such features in mechanical degrees of freedom in opto-mechanics. The proof of the result is based on Bochner's theorem characterizing classical and quantum characteristic functions and on semi-definite programming. In this joint theoretical-experimental work we present data from experimental optical Fock state preparation, demonstrating the functioning of the approach.Comment: 4+1 pages, 2 figures, minor change

Time gating of heralded single photons for atomic memories

We demonstrate a method for time gating the standard heralded continuous- wave (cw) spontaneous parametric down-converted (SPDC) single photon source by using pulsed pumping of the optical parametric oscillator (OPO) below threshold. The narrow bandwidth, high purity, high spectral brightness and the pseudo-deterministic character make the source highly suitable for light-atom interfaces with atomic memories.Comment: Accepted for publication in Optics Letter

Optoelectronic cooling of mechanical modes in a semiconductor nanomembrane

Optical cavity cooling of mechanical resonators has recently become a research frontier. The cooling has been realized with a metal-coated silicon microlever via photo-thermal force and subsequently with dielectric objects via radiation pressure. Here we report cavity cooling with a crystalline semiconductor membrane via a new mechanism, in which the cooling force arises from the interaction between the photo-induced electron-hole pairs and the mechanical modes through the deformation potential coupling. The optoelectronic mechanism is so efficient as to cool a mode down to 4 K from room temperature with just 50 uW of light and a cavity with a finesse of 10 consisting of a standard mirror and the sub-wavelength-thick semiconductor membrane itself. The laser-cooled narrow-band phonon bath realized with semiconductor mechanical resonators may open up a new avenue for photonics and spintronics devices.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure