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Physical Review B

Entangled photon sources based on semiconductor quantum dots: The role of pure dephasing

G. Pfanner, Marek Seliger, Ulrich Hohenester

Published Nov 11, 2008• 38 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the production of polarization-entangled photons through the biexciton cascade decay in a single semiconductor quantum dot. To accomplish a high degree of entanglement, despite the exciton fine-structure splitting, one must either energetically align the two exciton states by means of external fields or erase the which-path information by postselection or time reordering of photons. Here we show that in the latter schemes the photon state becomes deteriorated through dephasing processes in the solid, and the degree of entanglement remains low.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.78.195410

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We theoretically investigate the production of polarization-entangled photons through the biexciton cascade decay in a single semiconductor quantum dot. To accomplish a high degree of entanglement, despite the exciton fine-structure splitting, one must either energetically align the two exciton states by means of external fields or erase the which-path information by postselection or time reordering of photons. Here we show that in the latter schemes the photon state becomes deteriorated through dephasing processes in the solid, and the degree of entanglement remains low.
We theoretically investigate the production of polarization-entangled photons through the biexciton cascade decay in a single semiconductor quantum dot. To accomplish a high degree of entanglement, despite the exciton finestructure splitting, one must either energetically align the two exciton states by means of external fields or erase the which-path information by post-selecting photons within the correct frequency range. Here we show that in the latter scheme, as well as in related proposals, the photon state becomes deteriorated through dephasing processes in the solid, and the degree of entanglement remains low despite filtering.
Institut fur Physik, Karl{Franzens{Universitat Graz, Universitatsplatz 5, 8010 Graz, Austria(Dated: June 4, 2008)We theoretically investigate the production of polarization-entangled photons through the biexci-ton cascade decay in a single semiconductor quantum dot. To accomplish a high degree of entangle-ment, despite the exciton nestructure splitting, one must either energetically align the two excitonstates by means of external elds or erase the which-path information by post-selecting photonswithin the correct frequency range. Here we show that in the latter scheme, as well as in relatedproposals, the photon state becomes deteriorated through dephasing processes in the solid, and thedegree of entanglement remains low despite ltering.
A well controlled, triggered source of entangled photons is desirable for many applications in quantum information processing. The two-photon cascade from a biexciton state, two electrons and holes, confined in a quantum dot can be such a source of polarisation-entangled photons provided the two decay paths from the biexciton carry no “which-path” information. In recent years many techniques have been employed to make the two optical decay paths from the biexciton state indistinguishable. We will demonstrate the effect of the exciton fine-structure splitting on a single-dot based entangled photon source. Surprisingly the entanglement is found to persist despite relatively large separations between the intermediate energy levels of up to 4µeV. Measurements demonstrate that entanglement of the photon pair is robust to the dephasing of the intermediate exciton state responsible for the first order coherence time of either of the single photons. We distinguish between the first-order coherence time (2*), and a parameter defined as the cross-coherence time (HV) which is illustrated in the figure. The cross-coherence time is found to be at least an order of magnitude greater than the first-order coherence time. We will also report on recent progress towards an ideal source of triggered polarisation-entangled photons with a single quantum dot.
Abstract We theoretically investigate the production of polarization‐entangled photons through the biexciton cascade decay in a single semiconductor quantum dot. A biexciton radiatively decays through two intermediate exciton states, where polarization‐entangled photons are emitted if the two decay paths differ in polarization but are indistinguishable otherwise. This ideal performance is usually spoiled by the electron–hole exchange interaction splitting the intermediate exciton states by a small amount and consequently attaching a which‐path information to the photon frequencies. We discuss post‐selection schemes to mask this which‐path information to an outside observer. We show how spectral filtering and time shifts at a single photon level affect the photon state. Here the solid state environment plays a crucial role in the effective measurement of intermediate exciton states. Evaluating our analytical results with realistic quantum dot parameters we quantify the applicability of suggested protocols for solid‐state based quantum cryptography. Our results indicate, that a high degree of entanglement is only reached by spectral alignment of the exciton states. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
A fundamental approach to generate polarization-entangled photon pairs from solid-state devices is the biexciton cascade in semiconductor quantum dots. For efficient photon pair generation in the weak coupling regime, we present an analytical solution for the two-photon matrix elements (quantum-state tomography), including dephasing and relaxation mechanisms. In particular, we show that a pure dephasing mechanism does not affect the degree of entanglement for quantum dots with degenerated exciton levels.
Semiconductor quantum dots are promising sources for polarization-entangled photons. As an alternative to the usual cascaded biexciton-exciton emission, direct two-photon emission from the biexciton can be used. With a high-quality optical resonator tuned to half the biexciton energy, a large proportion of the photons can be steered into the two-photon emission channel. In this case the degree of polarization entanglement is inherently insensitive to the exciton fine-structure splitting. In the present work we analyze the biexciton emission with particular emphasis on the influence of coupling of the quantum-dot cavity system to its environment. Especially for a high-quality cavity, the coupling to the surrounding semiconductor material can open up additional phonon-assisted decay channels. Our analysis demonstrates that with the cavity tuned to half the biexciton energy, the potentially detrimental influence of the phonons on the polarization entanglement is strongly suppressed---high degrees of entanglement can still be achieved. We further discuss spectral properties and statistics of the emitted twin photons.