The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has developed a room-temperature single-photon source built into a compact 19-inch rack-mounted device that operates without cryogenic cooling. Designed as a plug-and-play system that works as soon as it is powered on, the device moves quantum light source technology beyond the laboratory and closer to practical, onsite use.

The study is published in the journal Laser & Photonics Reviews.

A single-photon source is a device that generates particles of light, or photons, one at a time. It serves as the starting point for photon-based quantum technologies such as quantum communication, quantum sensing and quantum measurement.