Quantum Learning with the Time Tagger at the Heart

| on 14 October 2024

The Quantum Optics Educational Kit crafted by Thorlabs includes the Swabian Instruments Time Tagger , tailored specifically to meet the needs of students and educators. This educational kit is a gateway to exploring quantum optics, offering seamless and intuitive coincidence measurements facilitated by a versatile Time Tagger designed specifically for educational settings. This versatility makes it easier than ever for students to engage with complex concepts, such as non-classical light sources and single-photon experiments.

Hands-On Experiments at Swabian Instruments Summer School

During the recent Swabian Summer School hosted by Swabian Instruments, students used a demonstrator setup based on the Quantum Optics Educational Kit to perform advanced experiments, including the heralded g(2) measurement to test single-photon sources. This experiment is crucial in identifying single-photon emitters and understanding photon distribution—a fundamental aspect of quantum optics.

The concept of heralded single photons and second-order coherence, represented by the g(2) function, is a powerful method to evaluate how well a light source generates individual photons. Real-world photon sources often produce a range of photon numbers (including none at all), which can complicate the interpretation of results. By focusing on coincident events (heralding), students learned how to minimize these zero states, improving the precision of their measurements.

Unlocking Endless Possibilities with Time Tagger Lab

Swabian Instruments’ Time Tagger technology provided students with a seamless way to explore and analyze quantum phenomena. With Time Tagger Lab and our powerful API, students could

• Quickly monitor count rates and measure time delays in their experiments.
• Set up a network server for remote experiment control and data analysis.
• Use the Python API to design synchronized correlation measurements and create virtual coincidence channels to evaluate the g(2) parameter effectively. These capabilities empower students to deepen their understanding of quantum optics and verify the quality of single-photon sources, taking their learning beyond theory into the realm of real-world application.

Thorlabs Partners with Swabian Instruments to Empower Students with Quantum Optics Educational Kit

This innovative educational kit, developed by Thorlabs and featuring our Time Tagger at its core, is designed to bring hands-on quantum optics experiments into the classroom. It enables students to dive deep into the world of modern photonics and quantum science. We are happy that this collaboration helps to empower the quantum scientists of tomorrow! Swabian Instruments’ team thanks Thorlabs for providing the Quantum Optics Educational Kit for the Swabian Summer School!

Photos: Willy Löbl

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