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Optics Letters

Single quantum dots for slow and fast light in a planar photonic crystal

V. S. C. Manga Rao, Stephen Hughes

Published Jan 10, 2007• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We theoretically investigate slow and fast light propagation and pulse velocity control in a nanocavity containing a single quantum dot side-coupled to a planar-photonic-crystal waveguide. We demonstrate that low coupling strength (i.e., the weak coupling regime) between a cavity and a dot, under on-resonance condition, can lead to delays of about +90 ps for a pulse 1/e-width of 280 ps. The group delay dependence on the various coupling parameters suggests achievable delays of +300 ps and consequently very slow light speeds of around 5000 m/s in a 1.5 microm cavity-waveguide section. We also show that under off-resonant condition one can achieve significant pulse advancement of -60 ps.

DOI
10.1364/ol.32.000304

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We theoretically investigate slow and fast light propagation and pulse velocity control in a nanocavity containing a single quantum dot side-coupled to a planar-photonic-crystal waveguide. We demonstrate that low coupling strength (i.e., the weak coupling regime) between a cavity and a dot, under on-resonance condition, can lead to delays of about +90 ps for a pulse 1/e-width of 280 ps. The group delay dependence on the various coupling parameters suggests achievable delays of +300 ps and consequently very slow light speeds of around 5000 m/s in a 1.5 microm cavity-waveguide section. We also show that under off-resonant condition one can achieve significant pulse advancement of -60 ps.
Ability to tune the group velocity of a light pulse is of great importance for optical communication applications and realization of quantum information processing. Tunability of group velocity can be achieved by using either optical or electronic resonances. Tunability of an optical resonance depends on the change in refractive index of the cavity material. However, since electro-optical coefficients of non-engineered materials are quite small, the tuning range of optical resonances by electric field is narrow. This makes tuning by electric field impractical for most applications. Quantum dot (QD) coupled to a photonic crystal cavity is a useful hybrid system exhibiting nonlinear features. In this work, we analyze the use of quantum dot - optical cavity hybrid systems to engineer nonlinear waveguides susceptible to electric fields. We start by theoretically analyzing the optical pulse propagation at low-photon number excitation limit in a periodically arranged strongly coupled quantum dot - photonic crystal system. A one dimensional periodic array of evanescently coupled photonic cavities (coupled resonator optical waveguides, CROWs) containing non-interacting quantum dots allows us to tune the group velocity and the bandwidth of the pulse by adjusting the cavity/QD coupling. Tunable group velocity can be achieved by applying an external electric field which will result in a significant decrease in the cavity/QD coupling because of DC Stark effect. We also show that, using this approach, light pulses can be slowed down or stored by compressing the pulse bandwidth adiabatically and reversibly. Adiabatic bandwidth compression can be achieved by slowly decreasing the coupling strength when the light pulse is inside the coupled resonator optical waveguide. The energy splitting and the coupling constant after applying electric field is calculated by using perturbation theory for two level systems. With our approach, nonlinear materials highly susceptible to electric fields can be engineered in low-excitation regime.
We theoretically investigate controlled tunable all-optical filtering and buffering of optical pulses in a hybrid nano-photonic structure, where a single quantum dot (QD) embedded in a photonic crystal nanocavity is side-coupled between a bare nanocavity and a photonic crystal waveguide. We demonstrate that there is a sharp low-loss transmission peak in the transmission spectrum under even low QD-nanocavity coupling strength and the input optical pulses can be delayed up to several hundred picoseconds within the dephasing time of the QD. The filtering regime can be shifted readily by manipulating the detuning between the QD excitonic transition frequency and resonant frequency of the nanocavity mode, which can be explored in future for on-chip all-optical logic and signal processing.
We present a theoretical and numerical analysis of pulse propagation in a semiconductor photonic crystal waveguide with embedded quantum dots in a regime where the pulse is subjected to both waveguide and material dispersion. The group index and the transmission are investigated by finite-difference-time-domain Maxwell–Bloch simulations and compared to analytic results. For long pulses the group index (transmission) for the combined system is significantly enhanced (reduced) relative to slow light based on purely material or waveguide dispersion. Shorter pulses are strongly distorted and depending on parameters broadening or break-up of the pulse may be observed. The transition from linear to nonlinear pulse propagation is quantified in terms of the spectral width of the pulse.
Features of the propagation and slowing down of short light pulses (duration of ~0.1–2 ps) in one-dimensional resonant photonic crystals with various types of unit cells containing several quantum wells are discussed. It is established that the use of structures with a complex unit cell makes it possible to reduce the group velocity of exciton-polaritons along with the conservation of the width of the transparency window. The calculations show the possibility of the slowing down of a light pulse by a factor of 50 as compared to a pulse propagating in vacuum. The predicted delay time of the pulse is 2 ps at a damping of only 3–5 times.