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Applications of single photons in quantum metrology, biology and the foundations of quantum physics

Nature Reviews Physics volume 5, pages 354–363 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

With the development of photonic quantum technologies, single photons have become key for various applications including quantum communication and quantum computing, discussed in an accompanying Review. Here we overview the applications of single photons in quantum metrology, biology and experiments probing the foundations of quantum physics. For each of these applications, we outline the main milestones reached so far, the remaining challenges, and the improvements that could be made in the future. We conclude with a wish list for future single-photon sources.

Key points

  • Detecting a single-photon or an N-photon state is not easy and requires specific detectors with precise calibration.

  • Quantum metrology with single photons can reach the ultimate limit in terms of metrology standards.

  • Natural biological systems, such as the human eye and processes in photosynthesis, are sensitive to the detection of single photons.

  • Single-photon experiments are used to test the limits of quantum mechanics and uncover connections to other theories such as general relativity.

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Fig. 1: Difference between a coherent and a Fock state.
Fig. 2: Application of single-photon sources in biology.
Fig. 3: Experiment investigating quantum tunnelling.

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Acknowledgements

C.C. and T.D. thank the COST Action MP1403 ‘Nanoscale Quantum Optics’, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). C.C. thanks the Graduate School NANO-PHOT ANR project. R.P. was supported by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. G.W. acknowledges support by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, project F7114 (SFB BeyondC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Light, nanomaterials and nanotechnologies (L2n), University of Technology of Troyes, CNRS EMR 7004, Troyes, France

    Christophe Couteau

  2. Institute for Functional Matter and Quantum Technologies, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

    Stefanie Barz

  3. Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQST), University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

    Stefanie Barz

  4. Institut Fresnel UMR 7249, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Ecole Centrale de Marseille, Marseille, France

    Thomas Durt

  5. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA

    Thomas Gerrits

  6. Toshiba Europe Ltd, Cambridge, UK

    Jan Huwer & Andrew Shields

  7. Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany

    Robert Prevedel

  8. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    John Rarity

  9. Institut für Experimentalphysik, Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    Gregor Weihs

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Couteau, C., Barz, S., Durt, T. et al. Applications of single photons in quantum metrology, biology and the foundations of quantum physics. Nat Rev Phys 5, 354–363 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-023-00589-w

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