The ultrafast detection of single photons is currently restricted by the limited time resolution (a few picoseconds) of the available single-photon detectors. Optical gates offer a faster time resolution, but so far they have been applied mostly to ensembles of emitters. Here, we demonstrate through a semi-analytical model that the ultrafast time-resolved detection of single quantum emitters can be possible using an optical Kerr shutter at gigahertz rates under focused illumination. This technique provides sub-picosecond time resolution, while keeping a gate efficiency at around 85%. These findings lay the ground for future experimental investigations on the ultrafast dynamics of single quantum emitters, with implications for quantum nanophotonics and molecular physics.

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Two typos are corrected, and the linear refractive index n is removed from the expressions of the phase shift in Opt. Lett. 46, 560 (2021)OPLEDP0146-959210.1364/OL.414895. The removal of n reduces the gate efficiency, but it does not affect the general findings. Here, we present the corrected equations and the corresponding new numerical results, showing that increasing the pulse energy from 1.8 nJ to 4 nJ leads to nearly the same results of Opt. Lett. 46, 560 (2021)OPLEDP0146-959210.1364/OL.414895.

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