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Press Release Detail: Thorlabs Adds Heralded Single-Photon Source to Its Portfolio Newton, NJ – January 20, 2021 – Thorlabs has announced the release of its latest addition to their product lineup for the rapidly growing field of Quantum Photonics, a correlated photon-pair source. The availability of a robust, high-brightness photon source is critical to the quantum photonics community for any number of applications spanning from fundamental photon-matter interaction to device characterization. The design utilizes a user-adjustable and fully integrated 405 nm pump source on the front end of a spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) device to produce greater than 450 kHz photon pairs at 810 nm. Various design considerations were evaluated to produce a best-in-class (greater than 0.45) heralding ratio for use as a heralded single-photon source without sacrificing pair production rates. The results of these efforts, born out of a collaboration with researchers in academia and private industry, is a fully turnkey, cost-effective solution that is unique in the market. The photon pair (signal and idler) produced in the SPDC process is conveniently fiber coupled out of the compact room-temperature housing for plug-and-play usage. James Easter, Engineering Manager for Thorlabs’ Newton-based Laser Division, said of the project, “With the SPDC810, we've cleared the burden of developing a photon pair source; the design manages to balance the subtle details and tradeoffs for achieving both good performance and reliability. Rather than spending their own time building a source, our customers can get started with their research directly. I'm eager to see what they do.” For more information on Thorlabs' new photon-pair source, please visit the web presentation at thorlabs.com. About Thorlabs: Thorlabs, a vertically integrated photonics products manufacturer, was founded in 1989 to serve the laser and electro-optics research market. As that market has spawned a multitude of technical innovations, Thorlabs has extended its core competencies in an effort to play an ever increasing role serving the Photonics Industry at the research end, as well as the industrial, life science, medical, and defense segments. The organization’s highly integrated and diverse manufacturing assets include semiconductor fabrication of Fabry-Perot, DFB, and VCSEL lasers; fiber towers for drawing both silica and fluoride glass optical fibers; MBE/MOCVD epitaxial wafer growth reactors; extensive glass and metal fabrication facilities; advanced thin film deposition capabilities; and optomechanical and optoelectronic shops.