arXiv:1408.5942 · Physical Review Letters
Coherent Generation of Nonclassical Light on Chip via Detuned Photon Blockade
Kai Müller, Armand Rundquist, Kevin A. Fischer, Tomás Sarmiento, Konstantinos G. Lagoudakis, Yousif Kelaita, Carlos Sánchez Muñoz, Elena del Valle, Fabrice P. Laussy, Jelena Vuckovic A
Abstract
The on-chip generation of nonclassical states of light is a key requirement for future optical quantum hardware. In solid-state cavity quantum electrodynamics, such nonclassical light can be generated from self-assembled quantum dots strongly coupled to photonic crystal cavities. Their anharmonic strong light-matter interaction results in large optical nonlinearities at the single photon level, where the admission of a single photon into the cavity may enhance (photon tunneling) or diminish (photon blockade) the probability for a second photon to enter the cavity. Here, we demonstrate that detuning the cavity and quantum-dot resonances enables the generation of high-purity nonclassical light from strongly coupled systems. For specific detunings we show that not only the purity but also the efficiency of single-photon generation increases significantly, making high-quality single-photon generation by photon blockade possible with current state-of-the-art samples.