Single photon counting from individual nanocrystals in the infrared

Abstract

Experimental restrictions imposed on the collection and detection of shortwave-infrared photons (SWIR) have impeded single molecule work on a large class of materials whose optical activity lies in the SWIR. Here we report the successful observation of room-temperature single nanocrystal photoluminescence at SWIR wavelengths using a highly efficient multielement superconducting nanowire single photon detector. We confirm that the photoluminescence from single lead sulfide nanocrystals is strongly antibunched, demonstrating the feasibility of performing sophisticated photon correlation experiments on individual weak SWIR emitters, and, more broadly, paving the way for sensitive measurements of spectral observables on infrared quantum systems that are incompatible with current detection techniques.