Record 500million‑per‑second photon source advances scalable photonic quantum computing

Applications and Research

Quantum computing solutions provider Sparrow Quantum has reported that its deterministic photon source now delivers more than 500 million single photons per second into a single-mode fibre.

According to the company, this is the highest single photon flux reported to date. The source operates at 1 GHz rate with more than 50% fibre efficiency, high single-photon purity, and two-photon indistinguishability.

The achievement addresses a fundamental constraint in photonic quantum computing, which involves generating large volumes of identical, high‑purity photons on demand at speeds that support scalable quantum processing and networking.

This is significant because scalable photonic quantum systems depend on fast, reliable streams of identical photons. It removes one of the main barriers to scaling photonic quantum systems, enabling more complex multi‑photon experiments, faster quantum operations, and practical fibre‑based quantum networks.

“Every gain here came from serious engineering rather than from redefining the technology,” said Peter Lodahl, founder and Chief Quantum Officer at Sparrow Quantum. “We drove the source as hard as the emitter physically allows, collected every photon it produced, and the quality held.”

The increased photon supply could enable experiments involving 10 to 20 photons and support applications in quantum computing, networking, communications and metrology.

“Making individual photons behave has taken years of engineering,” continued Lodahl. “The next challenge is making them work together through entanglement, with the same level of control and reliability.”

More photons is just the beginning. Larger photonic quantum systems need those photons to be entangled – linked so that they form a shared quantum state – and generating and controlling entanglement at scale is the next major challenge, said Sparrow Quantum.