Highly Efficient Source for Indistinguishable Photons of Controlled Shape

Abstract: We demonstrate a straightforward implementation of a push-button like single-photon source which is based on a strongly coupled atom-cavity system. The device operates intermittently for periods of up to 100 microseconds, with single-photon repetition rates of 1.0 MHz and an efficiency of 60 %. Atoms are loaded into the cavity using an atomic fountain, with the upper turning point near the cavity's mode centre. This ensures long interaction times without any disturbances induced by trapping potentials. The latter is the key to reaching deterministic efficiencies as high as obtained in probabalistic photon-heralding schemes. The price to pay is the random loading of atoms into the cavity and the resulting intermittency. However, for all practical purposes, this has a negligible impact.