We discuss our recent progresses on developing efficient quantum devices for scaling up optical quantum technologies. We insert semiconductor quantum dots in microcavities and use these artificial atoms to fabricate near-optimal single photon sources and single photon filters.
The ability to generate and manipulate light in pure quantum states is central to the development of quantum enhanced technologies, be it for optical quantum computing or for quantum secure communications. Recently, artificial atoms in the form of semiconductor quantum dots have emerged as an excellent platform to develop efficient components for optical quantum technologies. Using the tools of cavity quantum electrodynamics to harness the quantum light emission and to reduce the decoherence phenomena, single photon wavepackets with very high quantum purity can now be generated. This new generation of devices show unprecedented efficiency and allows scaling-up linear quantum optical technologies [3,4]. The high quality of the artificial atoms also allows to observe new phenomena, such as the generation of light pulses in a pure quantum superposition in the photon number basis [5], or to explore optical non-linearities at the single photon level [6] [1] N. Somaschi, et al. Nature Photonics, 10, 340 (2016) [2] P Senellart, G Solomon, A White, Nature Nanotechnology 12 (11), (2017) [3] C Antón, et al., Optica 6 (12), 1471-1477 (2019) [4] D. Istrati, arXiv 1912.04375 [5] J. C. Loredo, C. Antón, et., Nature Photonics 13 (11), 803 (2019) [6] L. De Santis, et al, Nature Nanotechnology 12, 663 (2017)
Quantum light is a key resource for the development of quantum-enhanced technologies such as secure communications, quantum networks, distributed quantum computing, metrology, etc. The development of these technologies requires light sources emitting single photons in a pure quantum state as well as efficient photon-photon gates. Such sources and gates can be obtained making use of the single-photon sensitivity of an atomic transition. We study artificial atoms in the form of semiconductor quantum dots to develop building blocks for optical quantum technologies. We use the tools of opto-electronics and nanotechnology to fabricate close to ideal atom-photon interfaces, where a single artificial atom interacts with a single mode of the optical field. We show that cavity quantum electrodynamics allows to largely isolate the artificial atoms from all sources of decoherence such as charge noise and crystal vibrations. We obtain bright solid-state sources of single photons with very high quantum purity, not only in the frequency basis, but for the first time also in the photon number basis. Finally, we have made progresses toward the development of efficient two-photon gates, with devices performing as nonlinear switches at the single-photon level. Some references: High-performances quantum light sources Somaschi et al., Nature Photonics 10, 340 (2016) Grange et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 253602 (2017) Senellart, Solomon and White, Nature Nanotechnology 12, 1026 (2017) J. C. Loredo, C. Anton, et. al, arXiv:1810.05170 Scaling-up optical quantum computing Loredo et al., Optica 3, 433 (2016) Loredo et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 130503 (2017) Toward efficient photon-photon gates Giesz et al., Nat. Comm 7, 11986 (2016) De Santis et al, Nature Nanotechnology 12, 663 (2017)
Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are promising artificial atoms for quantum information processing: they can generate single photons flying quantum bits; they show single photon sensitivity promising to develop quantum gates and the spin of a carrier in a QD can be a quantum memory. The scalability of a quantum network requires efficient interfaces between stationary and flying quantum bits. In the last few years, our group has made important progresses in this direction using cavity quantum electrodynamics. With a deterministic positioning of a single QD in a microcavity, we control the QD spontaneous emission on demand [1]. With such technique highly efficient single photon sources with brightness as large as 80% are demonstrated [2]. By minimizing the charge noise around the QD in a gated structure [3], we demonstrate the generation of fully indistinguishable photon. The source brightness is shown to exceed by one or two orders of magnitude the one of a parametric down-conversion source of same quality [4]. Symmetrically, these devices perform as excellent interfaces between a flying quantum bit and a stationary one, where coherent control of a quantum bit can be done when only few photons [5]. References [1] A. Dousse, et al. , Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 267404 (2008) [2] O. Gazzano, et al. , Nature Communications 4, 1425 (2013) [3] A. Nowak. et al., Nature Communications 5, 3240 (2014) [4] N. Somaschi, et al. Nature Photonics 10.1038/nphoton.2016.23 (2016). [5] V. Giesz, et al., Nature Communications doi:10.1038/ncomms11986 (2016)
Photonic quantum technologies are based on controlled photon states. To generate these, quantum dots have emerged as excellent sources of single and entangled photons. In this Perspective, we briefly review the chronological development of quantum dots as photon sources, from their beginnings as quantum emitters in the early 2000s to the advanced photonic devices being developed today. We highlight the interplay between fundamental research and industrial aspects before discussing the photonic quantum technologies we expect to emerge in the near future.
Semiconductor quantum dots have emerged as an excellent platform for quantum light generation, providing quantum pure single photon wavepackets with unparalleled efficiency. These devices have started to accelerate the development of optical quantum technologies – notably in the field of optical quantum computing. In this talk, I will discuss our progresses toward the deterministic source, the use of these sources for the generation of linear cluster states and the generation of quantum light state using spontaneous emission as a resource for entanglement in the photon number basis.
Semiconductor quantum dots have emerged as excellent artificial atoms to both generate and manipulate quantum light. When embedded in cavities, they can generate single photons and entangled photons with unparalleled efficiency and high quantum purity. In this talk, I will discuss how such devices can be used to generate strings of many entangled photons. The method, leveraging the spin-selective optical transition in a charged quantum dot, leads to the generation of indistinguishable photons in linear cluster states or GHZ states at high rates, realizing an important milestone for scaling-up optical quantum technologies.