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Ultrafast Phenomena and Nanophotonics

Application of femtosecond pulse shaping for high-performance optically-driven quantum light sources

Grant R. Wilbur, Ali Binai-Motlagh, Alison Clarke, Ajan P. Ramachandran, Nick Milson, John Healey, Sabine O’Neal, DENNIS GLENN DEPPE, Kimberley C. Hall

Published Mar 7, 2022• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) may be applied to solid-state quantum emitters of interest for quantum light sources or nodes in distributed quantum networks. For such emitters, resonant optical driving results in the highest degree of photon indistinguishability, but leads to the need to reject scattered light from the laser used to drive the emitter. In this work, we apply femtosecond pulse shaping techniques to the development of quantum state inversion strategies for QD emitters that optimize fidelity and source brightness. The control protocols we have developed would be applicable to a wide range of solid-state QE systems.

DOI
10.1117/12.2609786

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Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) may be applied to solid-state quantum emitters of interest for quantum light sources or nodes in distributed quantum networks. For such emitters, resonant optical driving results in the highest degree of photon indistinguishability, but leads to the need to reject scattered light from the laser used to drive the emitter. In this work, we apply femtosecond pulse shaping techniques to the development of quantum state inversion strategies for QD emitters that optimize fidelity and source brightness. The control protocols we have developed would be applicable to a wide range of solid-state QE systems.
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Abstract Femtosecond pulse shaping provides a means to tailor the interaction of light with matter, enabling the optimization of optical control processes and the achievement of a target final quantum state of the matter system. While this approach has found widespread application in the control of atomic and molecular systems, its use for solid state quantum systems remains in its infancy. This review covers our application of this approach to the manipulation of the quantum states of excitons in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). The achievement of simultaneous π, 2π rotations on excitons in two different QDs using a single engineered infrared pulse illustrates the flexibility of the pulse shaping approach for solid state quantum systems. This versatility is further explored through simulations that show the feasibility of arbitrary SU(2) control of several quantum dots. Shaping of femtosecond infrared control pulses enables the demonstration of adiabatic rapid passage in a single QD on a subpicosecond time scale, representing a substantial speedup and an important step towards the realization of dynamical decoupling. The dependence of the exciton inversion efficiency on the sign of pulse chirp confirms the role of (and ability to control) phonon‐related dephasing. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Controlling the quantum states of charge (excitons) or spin-polarized carriers in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) has been the focus of a considerable research effort in recent years due to the strong promise of using this approach to develop solid state quantum computing hardware. The long-term scalability of this type of quantum computing architecture is enhanced by the use of QDs emitting in the telecom band, which would exploit the established photonic infrastructure. This thesis reports the use of all optical infrared experimental techniques to control exciton dynamics in two different QD samples consisting of InAs/GaAs QDs and InAs/InP QDs within a planar microcavity. An infrared quantum control apparatus was developed and used to apply optimized shaping masks to ultrafast pulses from an optical parametric oscillator. Pulse shaping protocols designed to execute a two-qubit controlled-rotation operation on an individual semiconductor QD were demonstrated and characterized. The quantum control apparatus was then implemented in simultaneous single qubit rotations using two uncoupled, distant InAs/GaAs QDs. These optimal control experiments demonstrated high fidelity optical manipulation of exciton states in the two QDs using a single broadband laser pulse, representing a step forward on the path to a scalable QD architecture and showcasing the power of pulse shaping techniques for quantum control on solid state qubits. As an alternative to single QDs, which have very low optical signals, subsets of QDs within an ensemble can be used in quantum computing applications. To investigate the mediation of inhomogeneities in a QD ensemble, pump-probe experiments were performed on InAs/InP QDs within a dielectric Bragg stack microcavity. Two different excitation geometries showed that the angle dependence of the microcavity transmission allowed for the spectral selection of QD subsets with transition energies resonant with the cavity mode. The microcavity mitigated inhomogeneities in the ensemble while providing a basis for addressing QD subsets which could be used as distinguishable quantum bits. This thesis work shows significant advances towards an optical computing architecture using quantum states in semiconductor QDs.
Semiconductor nanostructures such as quantum dots (QDs) have offered unique opportunities to investigate quantum optical effects in solid-state systems. These include quantum interference, Rabi oscillations, as well as photon antibunching, and were previously observable only in isolated atoms or ions. In addition, QDs can be integrated into optical microcavities, making them attractive for applications in quantum information processing and high efficiency quantum light sources. Despite much progress towards these goals, one area that was little explored is coherent control of such solid-state quantum emitters in cavities. The main technical hurdle lies in overcoming the laser background scattering. By using a sample structure in which QDs are embedded in a planar Fabry-Perot cavity and by using an orthogonal excitation geometry, we have achieved a nearly complete elimination of laser background scattering. This in turn allows us to show resonantly controlled light emission of quantum dots in the cavity including (a) Rabi flopping using pulse control, (b) direct observation of Mollow triplets in the frequency domain, and (c) simultaneously measured first-order and second order photon-photon correlations.