C. Toninelli

P. Lombardi, M. Colautti, M. Lopez, S. Kück, C. Toninelli
In this contribution we discuss the state of the art of single-molecule based single photon sources developed in Florence. In particular we will present our latest results concerning the integration of organic molecules into different photonic architectures, from optical planar antennas, to silicon nitride waveguide and polymeric structures. Finally we will elaborate on the applications of such single photon sources for quantum metrology. The science and technology of measuring accurately light at the few photon level is one of the fields where non-classical light states might be more beneficial than classical sources. Intrinsic intensity squeezing in the emission from single quantum object will guarantee a precise definition and measurement of photon fluxes in the fW range. We will hence present a molecule-based single photon source that, operated at 3 K, delivers a constant stream of photons with beyond 1-Mcps flux at the detector, a spectrometer-limited bandwidth of 0.2 nm and single photon high purity. This source is used to calibrate a silicon avalanche photodiode directly against an analog photodetector, previously referred to the primary standard.