  Using background-free detection of spin-state-dependent resonance
fluorescence from a single-electron charged quantum dot with an efficiency of
0:1%, we realize a single spin-photon interface where the detection of a
scattered photon with 300 picosecond time resolution projects the quantum dot
spin to a definite spin eigenstate with fidelity exceeding 99%. The bunching of
resonantly scattered photons reveals information about electron spin dynamics.
High-fidelity fast spin-state initialization heralded by a single photon
enables the realization of quantum information processing tasks such as
non-deterministic distant spin entanglement. Given that we could suppress the
measurement back-action to well below the natural spin-flip rate, realization
of a quantum non-demolition measurement of a single spin could be achieved by
increasing the fluorescence collection efficiency by a factor exceeding 20
using a photonic nanostructure.
