Estimating the single-photon projection of low-intensity light sources

Estimating the quality of a single-photon source is crucial for its use in quantum technologies. The standard test for semiconductor sources is a value of the second-order correlation function of the emitted field below 1/2 at zero time delay. This criterion alone provides no information regarding the amplitude of the single-photon contribution for general quantum states. Addressing this question requires the knowledge of additional observables. We derive an effective second-order correlation function, strongly connected to the Mandel-Q parameter and given in terms of both the second-order correlation and the average photon number, that provides a lower bound on the single-to-multiphoton projection ratio. Using both observables individually allows for lower and upper bounds for the single-photon projection. Comparing the tightness of our bounds with those in the literature, we find that relative bounds may be better described using the average photon number, while absolute bounds for low excitation states are tighter using the vacuum projection. Our results show that estimating the quality of a single-photon source based on additional information is very much dependent on what aspect of the quantum state of light one is interested in.