Nonclassical Light Sources Based on Selectively Positioned Deterministic Microlens Structures and (111) In(Ga)As Quantum Dots
I. A. Derebezov, V. A. Gaǐsler, A. V. Gaisler, Д. В. Дмитриев, Alexander Ivanovich Toropov, Martin von Helversen, C. de la Haye, S. Bounouar, Stephan Reitzenstein
Abstract The results of investigations of the optical characteristics of nonclassical light sources based on selectively positioned microlens structures and single (111) In(Ga)As quantum dots grown on a (111) BGaAs substrate are presented. The single-photon nature of the radiation is confirmed by measuring and analyzing second-order correlation functions g(2)(τ); g(2)(0) = 0.07. The fine structure of the exciton states of (111) In(Ga)As quantum dots is investigated. It is shown that, in the energy range of 1.320–1.345 eV, the splitting of exciton states is comparable to the natural width of the exciton lines, which is of interest for developing photon-pair emitters based on them.
Abstract The results of investigations of the optical characteristics of nonclassical light sources based on selectively positioned microlens structures and single (111) In(Ga)As quantum dots grown on a (111) BGaAs substrate are presented. The single-photon nature of the radiation is confirmed by measuring and analyzing second-order correlation functions g(2)(τ); g(2)(0) = 0.07. The fine structure of the exciton states of (111) In(Ga)As quantum dots is investigated. It is shown that, in the energy range of 1.320–1.345 eV, the splitting of exciton states is comparable to the natural width of the exciton lines, which is of interest for developing photon-pair emitters based on them.
Non-classical photon sources made of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) emitting in the telecommunication C-band are crucial components for low-loss, long-distance photonic quantum communication networks. Here we designed and fabricated strain--free In0.7Ga0.3As/In0.7Al0.3As QDs grown on GaAs(111)A substrates working as single-photon emitters in the 1550 nm window. The QDs were grown via local droplet etching method in a molecular beam epitaxy environment, employing a thin In0.7Al0.3As metamorphic buffer layer with the same lattice constant of the QD material, thus allowing for a completely strain--free self-assembly of the QDs. The QDs exhibit a C3v symmetry with a ground state emission in the 1400--1600 nm range. The exciton lifetimes of ≈ 1.3--1.9 ns and linewidths as low as ≈ 300 μeV show the good quality of the fabricated QDs. Second-order autocorrelation measurements under pulsed excitation confirmed the single-photon purity of the emitters, yielding a g(2)(0) value of 0.141±0.027
Quantum dots are considered an attractive system for applications in quantum communication and quantum logic, confirmed by experimental demonstrations of quantum dot based single photon emission devices. Another key quantum optics resource is the on-demand generation of entangled photon pairs, for which the radiative decay of the biexciton state in a quantum dot has been proposed. The realization of such a device has been prevented due to polarization splitting of the exciton fine structure, caused by anisotropies of various structural parameters of the dot. We present the results of recent experiments that manage the splitting in quantum dots, in order to allow entangled photon emission. We demonstrate that dots with splitting within the homogeneous linewidth can be realized by carefully controlling the thickness of the dot layer. Furthermore, we show that the splitting can be reduced to zero by the application of an in-plane magnetic field. Polarization dependent correlation measurements on these dots will be presented that show characteristic features of entanglement, such as polarization correlation for all linear detection bases, and circular polarization anti-correlation. Our results indicate that for the first time, we have observed triggered entangled photon pair emission from a quantum dot.
Semiconductor Quantum dots are potentially an attractive source of non-classical light. They can confine bound electron-hole pairs, excitons, in all three spatial dimensions giving them discrete optical emission energies, much like the electronic states in atomic systems. The semiconductor nature of the system allows quantum dots to be integrated into complicated device structures including optical cavities [1] and electrical injection [2]. The radiative exciton emission from a semiconductor quantum dot can provide the simplest form of quantum light, a single photon source [2]. The finite re-excitation time following the radiative decay of an exciton in a quantum dot prevents the dot from emitting more than one photon if excited with a short optical or electronic pulse. In a similar fashion excitation of the biexciton state, consisting of two electrons and holes, in the quantum dot results in the emission of a pair of photons at the energy of the biexciton and exciton transitions. The biexciton state was, in fact, proposed as a possible source of polarisation-entangled photons in 2000 by Benson et al. [3] as it consists of two polarisation-correlated decay paths which could potentially be indistinguishable. The condition of indistinguishability is fundamental to the generation of entangled photons and is, in general, not true of the two decay paths from the biexciton state in a quantum dot; physical anisotropy causes the intermediate exciton states to hybridise and separate in energy providing ‘which-path’ information about the route taken through the biexciton decay. We demonstrate how the splitting between the intermediate exciton states in a single InAs quantum dot can be controlled by growth [4], rapid thermal annealing [5] and the application of an external magnetic field [6]. Each of these three techniques can be used to make the intermediate exciton states degenerate allowing the biexciton decay to produce singe pairs of entangled photons triggered by short laser pulses [7,8]. Entangled photon pair sources are essential for applications such as entanglement based quantum key distribution, and optical quantum computing. For these applications it is important that no more than one entangled photon pair is generated in a cycle, a requirement met by our quantum dot source which is not possible with traditional methods for generating entangled pairs of photons. Entanglement also enables quantum interferometry and metrology, the basis of image resolution beyond that possible with equivalent classical light. Biphoton interferometry using entangled emission from the biexciton decay reveals fringes with half the period of classical light [9], and less that that of the laser. In addition, interferometry suggests that this type of entangled light source is not limited by decoherence, we fine the biphoton is surprising robust against dephasing, in stark contrast to the devastating effect of decoherence upon single photons emitted by similar structures.
In the fields of quantum communications and quantum computing, the transmission of information using single photons guarantees the security of the communication and enables calculations that would be impossible with our "classical" computers. One of the key elements in implementing such protocols is the photon source. It must emit, on demand, one and only one photon with specific quantum properties.The aim of this project is to characterise a source of single and indistinguishable photons, designed and manufactured at CEA-Grenoble, and consisting of an indium arsenide (InAs) semiconductor quantum dot integrated into a gallium arsenide (GaAs) nanocavity. With its low quality factor, the nanocavity enables photons to be extracted efficiently over a wide range of wavelengths (30nm). In addition, thanks to its small mode volume, the spontaneous emission of quantum dots within it can be accelerated by Purcell effect (Purcell factor up to 6).In this manuscript, we first detail the implementation and the optimisation of the experimental setups used to characterise the photons emitted by our sample : microphotoluminescence, radiative lifetime measurement, Hanbury-Brown and Twiss (HBT) experiment and Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) experiment. Then, we present the experimental results obtained for photons emitted by two distinct quantum dots : One containing neutral exciton states, and the second, containing a charged exciton state. In order to photo-create these exciton states in the quantum dots, two pulsed optical excitation schemes were implemented: the two-photon resonant excitation of the neutral biexciton, and the phonon-assisted quasi-resonant excitation of the neutral and charged excitons. We present the measurement of the three figures of merit of a single photon source for these two quantum dots : the brightness, the single-photon purity and the indistinguishability of the emitted photons. In a second phase, we will focus on the charged exciton state and measure the profile of its emission line and its autocorrelation function under continuous resonant excitation. These results, achieved within the nano-photonics group of the University of Basel, constitute the first demonstration of continuous excitation on these nanostructures, which is a good surprise given their small size.Finally, we will look at the effects of the application of mechanical stress on the energy separation of the two neutral exciton states, known as the "fine structure splitting" (FSS). During the radiative cascade of the neutral biexciton state, the two photons emitted are entangled in polarisation, and the fidelity of the entanglement depends in particular on the FSS. Here, we will consider a second sample, where the InAs quantum dots are embedded in a GaAs photonic nanowire. By bending the nanowire, mechanical stresses are applied to the quantum dots, which will modify the energy of the exciton states. We will present an experimental study aimed at observing a possible effect on the fine structure splitting.In conclusion, we have developed and optimised various experimental setups for characterising photon sources for applications in the fields of quantum communications and quantum computing. For a first version of these photonic nanostructures, the brightness, the single-photon purity and the indistinguishability of the photons emitted by our quantum dots integrated into nanocavities are very encouraging for the future. The next objectives are to improve the nanocavities and to characterise the decoherence phenomena and the mechanical coupling between the quantum dots and these nanostructures.