Coherence Studies of Photons Emitted from a Single Terrylene Molecule Using Michelson and Young's Interferometers

Abstract

Coherence length (time) is a key parameter in many classical and quantum optical applications. Two interferometers - Michelson and Young's double-slit - are used to characterize the temporal coherence of single photons emitted from single terrylene molecules. For quantitative analysis, a dispersion-related distortion in the interference pattern of a Michelson interferometer is carefully corrected by a simple dispersion compensation. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that Young's interferometer can be used in temporal coherence studies at the single photon level with high accuracy. The pros and cons of the two systems are discussed. The measured coherence lengths in the two systems are consistent with one another under the self-interference interpretations.