Fast, flexible algorithm for calculating photon correlations
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Updated: Aug 10, 2026

A Photonic System for Generating Unconditional Polarization-Entangled Photons Based on Multiple Quantum Interference
Published on: September 5, 2019
Ted A Laurence1, Samantha Fore, Thomas Huser
1Physical Biosciences Institute, Chemistry and Materials Science Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA. laurence2@llnl.gov
Abstract:
We introduce a new algorithm for computing correlations of photon arrival time data acquired in single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). The algorithm is based on rewriting the correlation as a counting operation on photon pairs and can be used with arbitrary bin widths and spacing. The flexibility of the algorithm is demonstrated by use of FCS simulations and single-molecule photon antibunching experiments. Execution speed is comparable to the commonly used multiple-tau correlation technique. Wide bin spacings are possible that allow for real-time software calculation of correlations, even for high count rates.
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