arXiv:2203.17077 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B
Multipair-free source of entangled photons in the solid state
Julia Neuwirth, Francesco Basso Basset, Michele B. Rota, Jan-Gabriel Hartel, Marc Sartison, Saimon Filipe Covre da Silva, Klaus D. Jöns, Armando Rastelli, Rinaldo Trotta
We investigate the effect of multiphoton emission on polarization-entangled photon pairs from a coherently driven quantum dot by comparing quantum state tomography and second-order autocorrelation measurements as a function of the excitation power. We observe that the relative (absolute) multiphoton emission probability is as low as ${p}_{m}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}=(5.6\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.6)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}[{p}_{2}=(1.5\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}]$ at the maximum source brightness, with a negligible effect on the degree of entanglement. In contrast with probabilistic sources of entangled photons, the multiphoton emission probability and the degree of entanglement remain practically unchanged against the excitation power over multiple Rabi cycles, while observing oscillations in the second-order autocorrelation function by more than one order of magnitude. Our results, explained by a model which links the second-order autocorrelation function to the actual multiphoton contribution in the two-photon density matrix, highlight that quantum dots can be regarded as a multipair-free source of entangled photons in the solid state.
We investigate the effect of multiphoton emission on polarization-entangled photon pairs from a coherently driven quantum dot by comparing quantum state tomography and second-order autocorrelation measurements as a function of the excitation power. We observe that the relative (absolute) multiphoton emission probability is as low as pm=(5.6\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.6)\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi10\ensuremath−4[p2=(1.5\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.3)\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi10\ensuremath−4] at the maximum source brightness, with a negligible effect on the degree of entanglement. In contrast with probabilistic sources of entangled photons, the multiphoton emission probability and the degree of entanglement remain practically unchanged against the excitation power over multiple Rabi cycles, while observing oscillations in the second-order autocorrelation function by more than one order of magnitude. Our results, explained by a model which links the second-order autocorrelation function to the actual multiphoton contribution in the two-photon density matrix, highlight that quantum dots can be regarded as a multipair-free source of entangled photons in the solid state.
During recent years, quantum dots have become an increasingly established source of highly entangled photons 1. The main motivation for the development of this technology has resided in the expectation that a resonantly driven quantum emitter can offer a path towards on-demand photon pair generation 2. In fact, state-of-the-art sources relying on spontaneous parametric down-conversion intrinsically suffer from multipair emission at high pair generation rates, which causes a tradeoff between brightness and degree of entanglement 3. Despite the key importance of this aspect, the experimental study of how multiphoton emission affects the entanglement properties of quantum dot-based sources has received surprisingly little attention. In this paper we report the investigation of the multipair emission of the source under quasi-deterministic resonant two-photon excitation without filtering the excitation laser using polarization suppression. The focus is on measuring the real multipair emission entering in entanglement-based measurements, minimizing measurement artefacts from the setup and in particular from the excitation source. This is investigated by measuring the second-order correlation function at zero-time delay in several measurement conditions, including spectral filtering. Our work confirms that the multipair emission is provided also for entanglement-based measurement conditions and thus helps the design of efficient photon sources for quantum information and communication technologies.
Abstract Single-photon sources based on semiconductor quantum dots find several applications in quantum information processing due to their high single-photon indistinguishability, on-demand generation, and low multiphoton emission. In this context, the generation of entangled photons represents a challenging task with a possible solution relying on the interference in probabilistic gates of identical photons emitted at different pulses from the same source. In this work, we implement this approach via a simple and compact design that generates entangled photon pairs in the polarization degree of freedom. We operate the proposed platform with single photons produced through two different pumping schemes, the resonant excited one and the longitudinal-acoustic phonon-assisted configuration. We then characterize the produced entangled two-photon states by developing a complete model taking into account relevant experimental parameters, such as the second-order correlation function, Hong–Ou–Mandel visibility, multiphoton emission and pump laser filtering. Our source shows long-term stability and high quality of the generated entangled states, thus constituting a reliable building block for optical quantum technologies.
Semiconductor quantum dots are among the best sources of on-demand entangled photon pairs. The degree of entanglement, however, is generally limited by the fine structure splitting of exciton states. In this paper, we theoretically investigate the generation of polarization-entangled photon pairs under two-photon excitation and cavity-assisted two-photon emission, both in the weak and strong cavity coupling regimes. We demonstrate and clarify that cavity coupling together with an excitation pulse reduces the degree of entanglement in three different ways. First, in a strong coupling regime, the cavity introduces the unequal ac-Stark shift of horizontally and vertically polarized exciton states, which results in the effective splitting of exciton states. Second, it induces the cross-coupling between the exciton states even in the weak coupling regime, causing the creation of unfavorable two-photon states. Finally, higher excited states of the cavity modes also contribute to the reduction of entanglement. Therefore, in the setting considered here, cavity coupling, which is generally required for the efficient collection of emitted photons, degrades the entanglement both in weak and strong coupling regimes.
Photonic entanglement is one of the key resources in modern quantum optics. It opens the door to schemes such as quantum communication, quantum teleportation, and quantum-enhanced precision sensing. Sources based on parametric down-conversion or cascaded decays in atomic and atom-like emitters are limited because of their weak interaction with stationary qubits. This is due to their commonly broadband emission. Furthermore, these sources are commonly in the near-infrared such that quantum emitters in the blue spectral region, such as ions or many defect centers, cannot be addressed. Here, we present a sodium-resonant (589.0 nm) and narrow-band (14 MHz) degenerate entanglement source based on a single molecule. A beam-splitter renders two independently emitted photons into a polarization-entangled state. The quality of the entangled photon pairs is verified by the violation of Bell’s inequality. We measure a Bell parameter of S=2.26±0.05. This attests that the detected photon pairs exceed the classical limit; it is reconfirmed by quantum-state tomography and an analysis of the raw detector counts, which result in a value of S=2.24±0.12. The tomography shows fidelity of 82% to a maximally entangled Bell state. This work opens the route to background-free solid-state entanglement sources which surpass the probabilistic nature of the commonly used sources and are free from unwanted multi-photon events. The source is ideal for combination with stationary qubits such as atoms, ions, quantum dots, or defect centers.
The biexciton-exciton cascade in quantum dots (QDs) yields entangled photon pairs, and recent developments in engineering photonic structures around the dot for efficient light extraction and proper control of the fine-structure splitting, has led to significant breakthroughs in achieving an ideal entangled photon source -- exhibiting properties such as high extraction efficiency, low multi-photon emission and high entanglement fidelity. This thesis presents our development in enhancing the performance of entangled photon generation of QDs towards near-unity efficiency and fidelity. We study InAsP quantum dots in photonic nanowires for efficient light extraction and to reveal the effect of a quantum dot with high nuclear spin on the entanglement fidelity. \n \nRevealing the ultimate limit of entanglement in QDs is still a challenge, and it is generally believed that a sample made of atoms possessing high nuclear spins exhibits limited entanglement due to the dephasing caused by spin-spin interactions. Moreover, it is assumed that the fine-structure splitting of QDs degrades the entanglement fidelity, as it introduces a which-path information in the biexciton-exciton cascade. We have performed two-photon state tomography on InAsP QDs in InP nanowires, comprising of nuclear spin 9/2, and have realized that such a source is capable of generating entangled photon pairs with negligible dephasing during the emission lifetime, with a peak concurrence C = 77% and a count-weighted average concurrence 62%. This result was obtained by comparing the outcome of our measurements with a theoretical model that assumes no dephasing, however, takes into account the details of the detection system, i.e., dark-count rates and timing resolution, as well as, specific features of the QD, e.g., emission lifetime, fine-structure splitting, multi-photon emission probability, etc. Proper engineering of tapered nanowires allows for extraction of the emitted photons with high efficiency, which makes it possible to perform a complete two-photon state tomography and monitoring the evolution of the exciton state, as well as, the entanglement fidelity of the photon-pair, during the emission lifetime. This enabled us to reveal the effect of an imperfect detection system, as well as, multi-photon emission in recording low values for entanglement fidelity. Moreover, our calculations show that proper analysis of the time-energy uncertainty relation provides the necessary means to measure a high entanglement fidelity even in the presence of fine-structure splitting; since, a detection system with high timing resolution can overlook the which-path information, as the uncertainty in measuring the energy of the photons will be larger than the fine-structure splitting. Therefore, realizing near-unity entanglement fidelity using QDs is merely a technical challenge, i.e., resonant excitation of the QD, in order to suppress multi-photon emission, and use of a detection system with low timing jitter and dark-count rates. \n \nAs a next step to achieve this goal, we have performed the resonant two-photon excitation scheme for the first time on a QD in a photonic nanowire, which resulted in an enhancement of the performance of our source. We managed to improve the single-photon purity of the source, g^(2)(0), by two orders of magnitude; moreover, analysis of the emission spectrum reveals that this scheme increases the pair-production efficiency to values above 93% for the biexciton-exciton cascade. Taking the efficiency of our experimental setup into consideration, the results indicate an approximately eight-fold enhancement of the pair-extraction efficiency as compared to the quasi-resonant excitation scheme (12.55% vs. 1.6%). Based on these results, two-photon state tomography on our source, under resonant two-photon excitation and performed by a detection system with high timing resolution and low dark-count rates, yields near-unity entanglement fidelity. By considering the enhancement in pair-extraction efficiency that we obtained, QDs in photonic nanowires can surpass the performance of spontaneous parametric down conversion sources in terms of entanglement fidelity and pair-extraction efficiency. \n \nEven though we have shown a finite fine-structure splitting does not degrade the entanglement fidelity in QDs, for various application in quantum information removing the fine-structure splitting is beneficial. Therefore, we have proposed a universal all-optical approach for removing the fine-structure splitting. In this scheme, the energy of the photons are shifted by using a pair of quarter-wave plates and fast-rotating half-wave plates after they have been emitted; and as a result, the energy difference between the two decay paths in the biexciton-exciton cascade is erased. This method is applicable to any QD source and can be easily implemented using the currently available technology; moreover, no further sample processing will be required in order to achieve zero fine-structure splitting.