Conditional preparation of single photons for scalable quantum-optical networking

A fundamental prerequisite for the implementation of linear optical quantum computation is a source of single-photon wavepackets capable of high-visibility interference in scalable networks. These conditions can be met with micro-structured waveguides in conjunction with ultra-short classical timing pulses. By exploiting a novel type-II phasematching configuration we demonstrate a waveguided single photon source exhibiting a conditional detection efficiency exceeding 51% (which corresponds to a preparation efficiency of 85%) and extraordinarily high detection rates of up to 8.5x10^5 coincidences/[s.mW].