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Nanotechnology

Quantum interference of electrically generated single photons from a quantum dot

Raj B. Patel, Anthony J. Bennett, Ken Cooper, P. Atkinson, Christine A. Nicoll, D. A. Ritchie, Andrew J. Shields

Published Jun 22, 2010• 39 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum interference lies at the foundation of many protocols for scalable quantum computing and communication with linear optics. To observe these effects the light source must emit photons that are indistinguishable. From a technological standpoint, it would be beneficial to have electrical control over the emission. Here we report of an electrically driven single-photon source emitting indistinguishable photons. The device consists of a layer of InAs quantum dots embedded in the intrinsic region of a p-i-n diode. Indistinguishability of consecutive photons is tested in a two-photon interference experiment under two modes of operation, continuous and pulsed current injection. We also present a complete theory based on the interference of photons with a Lorentzian spectrum which we compare to both our continuous wave and pulsed experiments. In the former case, a visibility was measured limited only by the timing resolution of our detection system. In the case of pulsed injection, we employ a two-pulse voltage sequence which suppresses multi-photon emission and allows us to carry out temporal filtering of photons which have undergone dephasing. The characteristic Hong-Ou-Mandel 'dip' is measured, resulting in a visibility of 64 +/- 4%.

DOI
10.1088/0957-4484/21/27/274011

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Quantum interference lies at the foundation of many protocols for scalable quantum computing and communication with linear optics. To observe these effects the light source must emit photons that are indistinguishable. From a technological standpoint, it would be beneficial to have electrical control over the emission. Here we report of an electrically driven single-photon source emitting indistinguishable photons. The device consists of a layer of InAs quantum dots embedded in the intrinsic region of a p-i-n diode. Indistinguishability of consecutive photons is tested in a two-photon interference experiment under two modes of operation, continuous and pulsed current injection. We also present a complete theory based on the interference of photons with a Lorentzian spectrum which we compare to both our continuous wave and pulsed experiments. In the former case, a visibility was measured limited only by the timing resolution of our detection system. In the case of pulsed injection, we employ a two-pulse voltage sequence which suppresses multi-photon emission and allows us to carry out temporal filtering of photons which have undergone dephasing. The characteristic Hong-Ou-Mandel 'dip' is measured, resulting in a visibility of 64 +/- 4%.
A single-photon source capable of emitting indistinguishable photons is a key element in schemes for scalable quantum information processing with linear optics. Whilst several groups have reported such sources, up until now an electrically driven source capable of making these protocols technologically viable has yet to be reported. We present the first demonstration of an electrically driven single-photon source emitting indistinguishable photons. Our sample consists of a layer of InAs/GaAs quantum dots embedded in the intrinsic region of a p-i-n microcavity diode. We test the indistinguishability of consecutive photons by carrying out a Hong-Ou- Mandel-type two-photon interference experiment whereby two identical photons arriving simultaneously at two input ports of a 50:50 beamsplitter exit together. The device was operated under two modes, continuous and pulsed current injection. In the former case, we measured a coherence time of up to 400 ps at low pump current - the longest reported under these excitation conditions. A two-photon interference visibility was measured, limited only by the timing resolution of our detection system and further suggesting a 100% overlap of photon wavepackets at the output beamsplitter. In the case of pulsed injection, we employed a two-pulse voltage sequence which allowed us to carry out temporal filtering of photons which had undergone dephasing. The characteristic Hong-Ou-Mandel "dip" was measured resulting in a visibility of 64 ± 4%.
We report an electrically driven semiconductor single-photon source capable of emitting photons with a coherence time of up to 400 ps under fixed bias. It is shown that increasing the injection current causes the coherence time to reduce, and this effect is well explained by the fast modulation of a fluctuating environment. Hong-Ou-Mandel-type two-photon interference using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer is demonstrated using this source to test the indistinguishability of individual photons by postselecting events where two photons collide at a beam splitter. Finally, we consider how improvements in our detection system can be used to achieve a higher interference visibility.
We report the realization of the first electrically-driven single photon source. The device is based on a GaAs p-i-n diode containing self-assembled InAs quantum dots embedded within the i-region. Time resolved electroluminescence from the device yields information on the radiative lifetimes of the single quantum dots involved. Applying a continuous current a dip is measured in the second-order correlation function at zero time delay indicating that the luminescence is antibunched. Under pulsed excitation by subnanosecond voltage pulses, strong suppression of multi-photon pulses is achieved with respect to a laser of the same average intensity. The results suggest that conventional semiconductor technology can be used to mass-produce a single photon source for applications in quantum information technology.
Summary form only given. Single-photon sources have recently been demonstrated using a variety of devices, including molecules, mesoscopic quantum wells, colour centers, trapped ions, and semiconductor quantum dots. These sources rarely emit two or more photons in the same pulse, compared to a Poisson-distributed source of the same intensity. Numerous applications for single-photon sources have been proposed in the field of quantum information. However, most, including linear-optical quantum computation, also require that consecutive photons have identical wave packets. For a source based on a single quantum emitter, the emitter must therefore be excited in a rapid or deterministic way, and interact little with its surrounding environment. Here, we test the indistinguishability of photons emitted by a semiconductor quantum dot in a microcavity through a Hong-Ou-Mandel-type two-photon interference experiment. We find that consecutive photons are largely indistinguishable, with a mean wave-packet overlap as large as 0.81, making this source useful in a variety of experiments in quantum optics and quantum information.