Single-Photon Source for Quantum Information Based on Single Dye Molecule Fluorescence in Liquid Crystal Host

Abstract

This paper describes a new application for liquid crystals: quantum information technology. A deterministically polarized single-photon source that efficiently produces photons exhibiting antibunching is a pivotal hardware element in absolutely secure quantum communication. Planar-aligned nematic liquid crystal hosts deterministically align the single dye molecules which produce deterministically polarized single (antibunched) photons. In addition, 1-D photonic bandgap cholesteric liquid crystals will increase single-photon source efficiency. The experiments and challenges in the observation of deterministically polarized fluorescence from single dye molecules in planar-aligned glassy nematic-liquid-crystal oligomer as well as photon antibunching in glassy cholesteric oligomer are described for the first time.

Keywords:

• antibunching
• liquid crystals
• single-dye molecules
• single-photon source

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the support by the U.S. Army Research Office under Award No. DAAD19-02-1-0285 and National Science Foundation Awards ECS-0420888, EEC-0243779, PHY-0242483. The work was also supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inertial Confinement Fusion under Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC03-92SF19460, the University of Rochester, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. The support of DOE does not constitute an endorsement by DOE of the views expressed in this article.

Receipt of LC oligomers from S.-H. Chen, Cornerstone Research Group, Inc. and F. Kreuzer of Wacker, Munich are gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank L. Novotny, A. Lieb, J. Shojaie, A. Trajkovska, S. Culligan, for advice and help, and J. Starowitz for support in optical material laboratory.