%0 Journal Article %D 2020 %T On-demand indistinguishable single photons from an efficient and pure source based on a Rydberg ensemble %A Dalia P. Ornelas-Huerta %A Alexander N. Craddock %A Elizabeth A. Goldschmidt %A Andrew J. Hachtel %A Yidan Wang %A P. Bienias %A Alexey V. Gorshkov %A Steve L. Rolston %A James V. Porto %X

Single photons coupled to atomic systems have shown to be a promising platform for developing quantum technologies. Yet a bright on-demand, highly pure and highly indistinguishable single-photon source compatible with atomic platforms is lacking. In this work, we demonstrate such a source based on a strongly interacting Rydberg system. The large optical nonlinearities in a blockaded Rydberg ensemble convert coherent light into a single-collective excitation that can be coherently retrieved as a quantum field. We observe a single-transverse-mode efficiency up to 0.18(2), g(2)=2.0(1.5)×10−4, and indistinguishability of 0.982(7), making this system promising for scalable quantum information applications. Accounting for losses, we infer a generation probability up to 0.40(4). Furthermore, we investigate the effects of contaminant Rydberg excitations on the source efficiency. Finally, we introduce metrics to benchmark the performance of on-demand single-photon sources. 

%8 3/4/2020 %G eng %U https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.02202