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arXiv:1103.3593 · Applied Physics Letters

Subnanosecond electro-optic modulation of triggered single photons from a quantum dot

Matthew T. Rakher, Kartik A. Srinivasan

Published May 23, 2011• 21 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Control of single photon wave-packets is an important resource for developing hybrid quantum systems which are composed of different physical systems interacting via photons. Here, we extend this control to triggered photons emitted by a quantum dot, temporally shaping single photon wave-packets on timescales fast compared to their radiative decay by electro-optic modulation. In particular, telecommunications-band single photons resulting from the recombination of an exciton in a quantum dot with exponentially decaying wave-packets are synchronously modulated to create Gaussian-shaped single photon wave-packets. We explore other pulse shapes and investigate the feasibility of this technique for increasing the indistinguishability of quantum dot generated single photons.

DOI
10.1063/1.3593007

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Control of single photon wave-packets is an important resource for developing hybrid quantum systems which are composed of different physical systems interacting via photons. Here, we extend this control to triggered photons emitted by a quantum dot, temporally shaping single photon wave-packets on timescales fast compared to their radiative decay by electro-optic modulation. In particular, telecommunications-band single photons resulting from the recombination of an exciton in a quantum dot with exponentially decaying wave-packets are synchronously modulated to create Gaussian-shaped single photon wave-packets. We explore other pulse shapes and investigate the feasibility of this technique for increasing the indistinguishability of quantum dot generated single photons.
Quantum dots (QDs) are an excellent single-photon source that can be combined with a spin quantum memory. Many quantum technologies require increased control over the characteristics of emitted photons. A powerful approach is to trigger coherent Raman photons from QDs with a Λ energy-level system, such as the spin singlet-triplet system in two coupled QDs. The temporal and spectral behavior of single Raman photons can be varied simply by modifying the excitation source. Here, we demonstrate control of the single-photon pulse shape in a solid-state system on a timescale much shorter than the radiative lifetime, in addition to control of the frequency and bandwidth. We achieve a photon pulse width of 80 ps-an order of magnitude shorter than the exciton lifetime. Possible applications include time-bin encoding of quantum information, matching photons from different sources, and efficient single-photon transfer in a quantum network.
Hybrid quantum information devices that combine disparate physical systems interacting through photons offer the promise of combining low-loss telecommunications wavelength transmission with high fidelity visible wavelength storage and manipulation. The realization of such systems requires control over the waveform of single photons to achieve spectral and temporal matching. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the simultaneous wavelength translation and amplitude modulation of single photons generated by a quantum dot emitting near 1300 nm with an exponentially decaying waveform (lifetime ≈1.5 ns). Quasi-phase-matched sum-frequency generation with a pulsed 1550 nm laser creates single photons at 710 nm with a controlled amplitude modulation at 350 ps time scales.
Creating and controlling well-defined single-photon states is important for many quantum enhanced technologies. Information can be encoded in any degree of freedom associated with a single-photon field excitation, for example in the polarization or transverse spatial mode structure. The ability to encode multiple qubits in these states is desirable for high data transmission rates and increased information processing capacity. The spectral-temporal domain offers a large Hilbert space for encoding information, well suited to integrated optical architectures owing to the low cross-talk between channels. Indeed, time-frequency encoding is an integral component of existing information technologies infrastructure. Thus, complete, coherent control of the spectral-temporal mode structure of light is essential to advancing optical quantum technologies. Arbitrary control of single-photon states has been demonstrated in the polarization and spatial-momentum degrees of freedom however, is yet to be established in the spectral-temporal domain. Recently it was shown that spectral-temporal pulse shaping is experimentally feasible using nonlinear optical methods. However, such techniques can introduce noise photons, are challenging to implement deterministically and require specially prepared auxiliary pump pulses. Furthermore, they are typically only possible at relatively low repetition rates to avoid damage of nonlinear optical materials. Here, we demonstrate deterministic pulse shaping of single-photon wave packets by introducing a time-varying phase. Applying linear or quadratic phase to the wave packet introduces a spectral shift or spectral broadening, respectively. Achieving significant spectral manipulation requires temporal-phase modulation on the order of π. The phase must also vary on the same time scale as the optical pulses, approximately 1 ps in duration here. This relatively rapid phase variation is achieved using a fast electro-optic phase modulator. The modulator is driven by a time-varying voltage that is synchronized with a pulse train of single-photon wave packets for accurate temporal phase control. In this thesis, we experimentally demonstrate control of the spectral-temporal state of single-photon wave packets using this method. Heralded single-photon wave packets are generated by spontaneous parametric down conversion pumped by a frequency-doubled Titanium-Sapphire laser oscillator with 80 MHz repetition rate. To achieve significant modulation of single-photon pulses a 10 V peak-to-peak radio-frequency signal of 40 GHz drives the phase modulator, which requires approximately 3.6 V to achieve a π phase shift. The signal is synchronized with the oscillator pulse train using custom designed electronics. Details of these electronics are presented, resulting in a robust phase and amplitude controllable 40 GHz voltage source, phase locked to the single-photon pulse train. To demonstrate the utility of this pulse-shaping method we experimentally show spectral shearing of almost 1 nm for single-photon wave packets with 830 nm central wavelength and 1 nm bandwidth. Measurement of the second-order intensity correlation before and after the wave-packet manipulation remains constant within uncertainty of the measurement, showing that the quantum nature of the single-photon source is not deteriorated by the modulator. Preservation of the wave-packet coherence is verified by two-photon interference between spectrally sheared and non-modulated single-photons.
We theoretically investigate the dynamic interaction of a quantum dot in a nanocavity with time-symmetric single-photon pulses. The simulations, based on a wave-function approach, reveal that almost perfect single-photon absorption occurs for quantum-dot--cavity systems operating on the edge between strong- and weak-coupling regimes. The computed maximum absorption probability is close to unity for pulses with a typical length comparable to half of the Rabi period. Furthermore, the dynamic control of the quantum-dot energy via electric fields allows the freezing of the light-matter interaction, leaving the quantum dot in its excited state. Shaping of single-photon wave packets by the electric field control is limited by the occurrence of chirping of the single-photon pulse. This understanding of the interaction of single-photon pulses with the quantum-dot--cavity system provides the basis for the development of advanced protocols for quantum-information processing in the solid state.