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International Conference on Photonics in Switching

Giant Optical Non-Linearity induced by a Single Quantum Dot in a Semiconducting Microcavity

Alexia Auffèves, A. Mosset, Mathieu Munsch, Christoph Simon, Jean‐Michel Gérard, J.-Ph. Poizat

Published Aug 1, 2007• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We aim at experimentally demonstrating this effect using a single quantum dot in a symmetric micropillar, the directionality of the micropillar ensuring the one-dimensionality of the problem. Taking into account the leaks, we have theoretically computed the transmission function of this medium in two regimes: the linear regime where the pump is weak, and the regime where the pump is strong enough to saturate the two-level system.

DOI
10.1109/ps.2007.4300763

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•Jan 1, 2018•0 citations
We aim at experimentally demonstrating this effect using a single quantum dot in a symmetric micropillar, the directionality of the micropillar ensuring the one-dimensionality of the problem. Taking into account the leaks, we have theoretically computed the transmission function of this medium in two regimes: the linear regime where the pump is weak, and the regime where the pump is strong enough to saturate the two-level system.
Photonic information processing requires giant optical non-linearities to implement logic gates between photons and optical switches at the single photon level. A very promising non-linear medium is a "one dimensional atom", that is a directional high-finesse cavity containing a resonant two-level system in the Purcell regime. We aim at experimentally demonstrating this effect using a single quantum dot in a symmetric micropillar, the directionality of the micropillar ensuring the one-dimensionality of the problem.
A two-level system that is coupled to a high-finesse cavity in the Purcell regime exhibits a giant optical nonlinearity due to the saturation of the two-level system at very low intensities, of the order of one photon per lifetime. We perform a detailed analysis of this effect, taking into account the most important practical imperfections. Our conclusion is that an experimental demonstration of the giant nonlinearity is feasible using semiconductor micropillar cavities containing a single quantum dot in resonance with the cavity mode.
Giant optical nonlinearity is observed under both continuous wave and pulsed excitation in a deterministically coupled quantum dot-micropillar system, in a pronounced strong-coupling regime. Using absolute reflectivity measurements we determine the critical intracavity photon number as well as the input and output coupling efficiencies of the device. Thanks to a near-unity input-coupling efficiency, we demonstrate a record nonlinearity threshold of only 8 incident photons per pulse. The output-coupling efficiency is found to strongly influence this nonlinearity threshold. We show how the fundamental limit of single-photon nonlinearity can be attained in realistic devices, which would provide an effective interaction between two coincident single-photons.
Cavity quantum electrodynamic (cQED) systems have attracted extensive research interest in the past decades as the main driving force of quantum optics. First experimental demonstrations focused on the enhancement of spontaneous emission and optical nonlinearities related to a single quantum emitter confined in a microcavity. Major technological effort was needed to enter the strong coupling regime of single emitter cQED to study for instance the non-harmonicity of resulting Jaynes-Cummings ladder and to perform quantum non-demolition measurements at the heart of quantum optics. Corresponding milestone experiments paved the way towards the realization of a wide variety of non-classical light sources bringing the concept of photonic quantum networks to a practical level. cQED systems can be realized using atomic, superconducting and semiconductor platforms. In view of future applications in the quantum information technology, the solid state platform of microcavities with embedded quantum emitters is the most attractive one as it promises low-cost mass production as well as interoperability with the integrated electronic circuit technology of today. Therefore, quantum dot (QD)-microcavity systems are very attractive for further investigations in this field. Indeed, even though cQED effects have been studied for many years now, there are still fundamental aspects remaining to be explored. One example is the exploration of a strongly coupled cQED system under coherent optical excitation which is one of the primary goals of this work. The work presented in this thesis aims at a deeper understanding of cQED effects in semiconductor based implementations of this central topic of quantum optics. It includes comprehensive spatially-resolved studies of the QD-micropillar system in the both weak and strong coupling regime. For this purpose an advanced 90 degree excitation and detection scheme, suitable for efficient wavelength-independent driving of the coupled exciton (X) and cavity mode (C) system, was implemented. This flexible and powerful technique enables access to the three-dimensional emission characteristics of QD-micropillars providing important new insight into cQED effects which is the central aspect of the first part of this thesis. The performed studies show for instance a pronounced anticorrelation (correlation) of the directional emission characteristics down to the single emitter level in the weak (strong) coupling regime demonstrating directly their fundamentally different nature. Related investigations of the lasing regime present a straightforward characterization method to demonstrate lasing action in high-Beta microlasers without the need for time consuming studies employing photon statistics. The second part of the thesis addresses another very important yet unexplored fundamental aspect of cQED. The main focus is on coherently-driven strongly-coupled QD-microcavity systems. Of particular interest is the regime where the coherent excitation dresses the X-C polariton at high excitation powers. This regime is found at the crossover from a quantum (Jaynes Cummings) to a semi-classical (Mollow Triplet-like) system and can be observed between the limiting cases of an anharmonic and a harmonic ladder solely by varying the excitation strength. An indispensable condition for the first observation of this transitory regime is driving the system through the matter (X) component, which distinguishes this work from previous studies. Counterintuitively, significant cavity losses with respect to the coupling strength are required to create the highly coherent state of the laser-dressed polariton. Moreover, this work pioneers in resonance fluorescence (RF) studies of strongly-coupled QD-microcavity systems and reveals that strong X-C coupling suppresses the RF substantially. Additionally, injection pulling of a single polariton is observed for the first time in the QD-microcavity system, which links this classical effect of injection locking, which is also found in macroscopic lasers, to the quantum regime. Complementary studies on long range off-resonant X-C coupling, mutual coupling of two QD Xs as well as temperature stability of the coherent coupling regime deepen the fundamental understanding of the strong light-matter interaction in semiconductor systems.