Coherence length of photons from a single quantum system

Abstract

We present a methodology that allows recording the coherence length of photons emitted by a single quantum system in a solid. The feasibility of this approach is experimentally demonstrated by measuring the self-interference of photons from the zero-phonon line emission of a single nitrogen-vacancy defect in diamond at 1.6 K. The first-order correlation function has been recorded and analyzed in terms of a single exponential decay time. A coherence time of $\ensuremath{\sim}5\mathrm{ps}$ has been obtained, which is in good agreement with the corresponding spectral line width and demonstrates the feasibility of the Fourier-transform spectroscopy with single photons.