Strain tunable quantum dot based non-classical photon sources

Semiconductor quantum dots are leading candidates for the on-demand generation of single photons and entangled photon pairs.High photon quality and indistinguishability of photons from different sources are critical for quantum information applications.The inability to grow perfectly identical quantum dots with ideal optical properties necessitates the application of post-growth tuning techniques via e.g.temperature,electric,magnetic or strain fields.In this review,we summarize the state-of-the-art and highlight the advantages of strain tunable non-classical photon sources based on epitaxial quantum dots.Using piezoelectric crystals like PMN-PT,the wavelength of single photons and entangled photon pairs emitted by InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots can be tuned reversibly.Combining with quantum light-emitting diodes simultaneously allows for electrical triggering and the tuning of wavelength or exciton fine structure.Emission from light hole exciton can be tuned,and quantum dot containing nanostructure such as nanowires have been piezo-integrated.To ensure the indistinguishability of photons from distant emitters,the wavelength drift caused by piezo creep can be compensated by frequency feedback,which is verified by two-photon interference with photons from two stabilized sources.Therefore,strain tuning proves to be a flexible and reliable tool for the development of scalable quantum dots-based non-classical photon sources.     

Highly circular-polarized single photon generation from a single quantum dot at zero magnetic field

Origin of sharp photoluminescence lines observed from an InAlAs quantum dot was identified with the measurements of excitation-power dependences and polarization correlations, together with photon correlation measurements. Single photon emission with high degree of circular polarization (DCP) up to 60% was observed from a positively charged exciton (trion) state in the single quantum dot under non-resonant excitation at zero magnetic field.     

单光子波包与腔-量子点相互作用的动力学研究

对单光子波包与腔-量子点模型相互作用的动力学过程进行了数学推导,并通过数值模拟实现了静态量子比特与飞行光子比特之间的相互转换。结果表明：由腔-量子点系统输出到光纤的光子是一个平滑的波包;通过改变激光脉冲作用时间等系统参数,可实现量子点中的原子和光子的纠缠,在此基础上,即可实现不同量子点中原子的纠缠。研究结果对解决利用腔-量子点系统来构造量子计算机的接口、制备纠缠态以及实现受控量子门等热点问题具有积极意义。     

Electrically driven uniaxial stress device for tuning in situ semiconductor quantum dot symmetry and exciton emission in cryostat

Uniaxial stress is a powerful tool for tuning exciton emitting wavelength, polarization, fine-structure splitting (FSS), and the symmetry of quantum dots (QDs). Here, we present a technique for applying uniaxial stress, which enables us in situ to tune exciton optical properties at low temperature down to 15 K with high tuning precision. The design and operation of the device are described in detail. This technique provides a simple and convenient approach to tune QD structural symmetry, exciton energy and biexciton binding energy. It can be utilized for generating entangled and indistinguishable photons. Moreover, this device can be employed for tuning optical properties of thin film materials at low temperature.     

Role of Cooper pairs for the generation of entangled photon pairs from single quantum dots

Generation of entangled photon pairs from semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) is highly desirable for realizing practical solid-state photon sources for quantum information processing and quantum cryptography. However, the energy splitting of exciton states in QDs almost prevent the generation of entangled photon pairs. This paper discusses the new possibility with the injection of electron as well as hole Cooper pairs into QDs.     

Subminiature emitters based on a single (111) In(Ga)As quantum dot and hybrid microcavity

The results of numerical modeling and investigation of a hybrid microcavity based on a semiconductor Bragg reflector and a microlens selectively positioned above a single (111) In(Ga)As quantum dot are presented. Emitters based on the hybrid microcavity demonstrate the effective pumping of a single quantum dot and high emission output efficiency. The microcavity design can be used to implement emitters of polarization- entangled photon pairs based on single semiconductor quantum dots.     

Broadband photonic structures for quantum light sources

Quantum light sources serve as one of the key elements in quantum photonic technologies. Such sources made from semiconductor material, e.g., quantum dots (QDs), are particularly appealing because of their great potential of scalability enabled by the modern planar nanofabrication technologies. So far, non-classic light sources based on semiconductor QDs are currently outperforming their counterparts using nonlinear optical process, for instance, parametric down conversion and four-wave mixing. To fully exploring the potential of semiconductor QDs, it is highly desirable to integrate QDs with a variety of photonic nanostructures for better device performance due to the improved light-matter interaction. Among different designs, the photonic nanostructures exhibiting broad operation spectral range is particularly interesting to overcome the QD spectral inhomogeneity and exciton fine structure splitting for the generations of single-photon and entangled photon pair respectively. In this review, we focus on recent progress on high-performance semiconductor quantum light sources that is achieved by integrating single QDs with a variety of broadband photonic nanostructures i.e. waveguide, lens and low-Q cavity.     

非相干变频转换实现室温下红外单光子源

纳米金刚石中的NV-center(Nitrogen-Vacancy center)是目前室温下具有高发射率和稳定性的可见光波段单光子源,而如何实现及优化红外单光子源则是未来实现量子信息和量子通信应用的一大挑战.介绍了一种近期提出的实现红外单光子源的新型机制.该方法以金刚石中的NV-center作为可见光波段的单光子源,利用非相干变频转换实现室温下近红外波段稳定、无闪烁的单光子源.具体的实施方案为在中空芯光子晶体光纤中选择性地填充含有量子点的溶液,以可见光波段的单光子源作为激励源,选择合适的量子点即可得到红外波段的单光子源.中空芯光子晶体光纤保证了较高的单光子吸收效率以及荧光收集效率.该方案的实施在理论上可以达到26%的转换效率,而初步的实验得到了0.1%的转换效率.进一步分析了一些影响转换效率的因素,并提出了一些解决方案.     

非对称耦合量子点分子中激子的动力学行为

研究了外场驱动下非对称耦合量子点分子中激子的动力学行为.利用二能级理论分析了这个量子系统中激子的局域化现象,分析发现:激子的动力学行为主要发生在低能级子空间,它们构成了系统的两个局域态;当场强和频率是Bessel方程的根时,准能发生回避交叉,局域化现象发生,电子和空穴局域在初始状态,状态不随时间变化.数值计算也证明了这一点.同时还给出了电子和空穴的最大纠缠态随时间的演化.     

Polarization of the photoluminescence of quantum dots incorporated into quantum wires

The photoluminescence spectra of individual quantum dots incorporated into a quantum wire are studied. From the behavior of the spectra in a magnetic field, it is possible to estimate the exciton binding energy in a quantum dot incorporated into a quantum wire. It is found that the exciton photoluminescence signal emitted from a quantum dot along the direction of the nanowire axis is linearly polarized. At the same time, the photoluminescence signal propagating in the direction orthogonal to the nanowire axis is practically unpolarized. The experimentally observed effect is attributed to the nonaxial arrangement of the dot in the wire under conditions of a huge increase in the exciton binding energy due to the effect of the image potential on the exciton.     

内建电场对GaN/AlGaN单量子点发光性质的影响

在有效质量近似和变分原理的基础上,考虑量子点的三维约束效应,研究了GaN/AlGaN单量子点发光性质随量子点结构参数(量子点高度L和量子点半径R)的变化。结果表明:内建电场对GaN/AlGaN单量子点的发光波长和激子基态振子强度等发光性质有重要的影响;量子点高度的变化对量子点发光性质的影响要比量子点半径的变化对量子点发光性质的影响更明显。     

Growth and photoluminescence study of ZnSe quantum dots

We report detailed photoluminescence (PL) studies of ZnSe quantum dots grown by controlling the flow duration of the precursors in a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition system. The growth time of the quantum dots determines the amount of blue shift observed in the PL measurements. Blue shift as large as 320 meV was observed, and the emission was found to persist up to room temperature. It is found that changing the flow rate and the total number of quantum dot layers also affect the peak PL energy. The temperature dependence of the peak PL energy follows the Varshni relation. From analyzing the temperature-dependent integrated intensity of the photoluminescence spectra, it is found that the activation energy for the quenching of photoluminescence increases with decreasing quantum dot size, and is identified as the binding energy of the exciton in ZnSe quantum dot.     

内建电场对GaN／A1GaN单量子点发光性质的影响

在有效质量近似和变分原理的基础上，考虑量子点的三维约束效应，研究了GaN／A1GaN单量子点发光性质随量子点结构参数（量子点高度L和量子点半径R）的变化。结果表明：内建电场对GaN／A1GaN单量子点的发光波长和激子基态振子强度等发光性质有重要的影响；量子点高度的变化对量子点发光性质的影响要比量子点半径的变化对量子点发光性质的影响更明显。     

InP/GaInP Quantum Dots as Single-Photon Sources for Quantum Information Processing

Many important realizations and proposals for applications in quantum information processing require single photons as carriers of quantum information. Here, we review different demonstrations of quantum applications using a deterministic single-photon source based on InP/GaInP quantum dots. First, the single-photon generation is described and verified by autocorrelation measurements. A modification of the correlation setup allows the simultaneous observation of wave and particle properties of the photons. Additional to single-photon emission, photon pairs and triplets from multiexciton cascades were observed, as well. Using a Michelson interferometer an efficient separation of photon pairs can be achieved allowing multiplexing on a single-photon level. The applicability was demonstrated in a quantum key distribution experiment. As another application, different degrees of freedom of a single photon were used to realize a two-qubit Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm. Encoding the quantum information in appropriate bases, an operation of the setup resistant to phase fluctuation was demonstrated.     

Exciton states in semiconductor spherical nanostructures

The results of theoretical studies of the energy spectra of excitons moving in semiconductor spherical quantum dots are described. The contributions of the kinetic electron and hole energies, the energy of the Coulomb interaction between an electron and hole, and the energy of the polarization interaction between them to the energy spectrum of an exciton in a quantum dot with a spherical (quantum dot)-(insulator medium) interface is analyzed.     

Non-Markovian effects on quantum superpositions in a nanostructure

We consider a laser driven nanostructure such a single (SQD) or double quantum dot (DQD) of any shape, which is coupled to photon and phonon baths. These baths provide the basic sources of pure dephasing and relaxation of QD states. We present results which demonstrate that the second order correlation function (g⁽²⁾) of emitted photons shows enhanced antibunching features on a time scale, where non-Markov signatures are indeed important for a SQD. This latter feature is only observable when the initial QD state is of a superposition kind thus providing a remarkable sensitivity to state preparation. For a DQD we show that the dipole-dipole interaction is the responsible for superfluorescence at very short times when the driven laser is turned off.     

Charging energy and spin polarization in artificial atoms and molecules

We investigate the electronic properties of single and coupled quantum dot systems by a self-consistent solution of Schrödinger and Poisson equations within the density functional theory. The single and coupled quantum dots show remarkable similarities to atoms and molecules. We observe that in the case of single quantum dots with cylindrical symmetry, the electrons in the dot form shells like in atoms. This sheel structure is slightly distorted due to the electron-electron interaction, as the number of electrons, N, increases. In the case of coupled quantum dots, we observe that the dots can be driven from a state wherein the individual dots are separate, akin to two isolated atoms, to one in which the dots couple forming an “artificial molecule.” By using the local spin density approximation, we observe spin polarization in the double dot for specific values of N.     

Spatially resolved spectroscopy on single self-assembled quantum dots

We report about spatially resolved experiments on self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots. Single quantum dots can be investigated by using STM-induced luminescence spectroscopy. The quantum dot occupancy can be increased via the STM tip current, which results in state filling and therefore in the onset of discrete excited state luminescence. In the limit of low injection currents, a single emission line from the ground state of the dot is observed. Using near-field spectroscopy through shadow masks, we have investigated the optical properties of single self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots as a function of occupancy and magnetic field. This allows us to fully resolve diamagnetic/orbital effects, Zeeman splitting, and to determine manybody-corrections. Photoluminescence excitation spectra further reveal a strong contribution of phonon assisted processes in quantum dot absorption.     

Maximising performance of optical coherence tomography systems using a multi-section chirped quantum dot superluminescent diode

Key device requirements for maximising resolution in an optical coherence tomography system are discussed. The design and operating parameters of a multi-contact quantum dot superluminescent diode incorporating a number of features which inhibit lasing are described. Such devices allow the independent tuning of emission power and spectral shape; hence the penetration depth and resolution in optical coherence tomography are decoupled. The emission spectrum of a device utilising chirped quantum dots is shown to be tuned to produce a broadband single Gaussian emission, centred at the required wavelength of 1050 nm, with high output powers than a single contact device.     

Polarization of the optical emission of polaron excitons in anisotropic quantum dots

A theory of large polarons in ellipsoidal quantum dots is developed. The optical spectrum of polaron excitons and its dependence on the degree of anisotropy of a quantum dot are analyzed. It is shown that the polaron ground state exhibits specific anisotropic polarization of the medium. The symmetry of the wave function of the ground state depends on the band structure of the material and on the shape of the quantum dot. The conditions under which strong polarization of the zero-phonon emission line produced by interband optical transitions occurs are determined. The possible polarization of this line is determined for various relationships between the polaron energy and the energy of the exchange interaction.