Single nano particles as photonic switch or memory element

Bruno F. Soares, Fredrik Jönsson, Nikolay I. Zheludev

Bruno F. Soares, Kevin F. MacDonald, V.A. Fedotov +2 more

We suggest and experimentally demonstrate a new concept for optical nanowatt switching and memory function made possible by light-induced structural transformations in a single nanoparticle.

元一 大津, Motoichi Ohtsu

Dominic Hallett, Andrew P. Foster, David L. Hurst +7 more

Local control of the generation and interaction of indistinguishable single photons is a key requirement for photonic quantum networks. Waveguide-based architectures, in which embedded quantum emitters act as both highly coherent single photon sources and as nonlinear elements to mediate photon-photon interactions, offer a scalable route to such networks. However, local electrical control of a quantum optical nonlinearity has yet to be demonstrated in a waveguide geometry. Here, we demonstrate local electrical tuning and switching of single photon generation and nonlinear interaction by embedding a quantum dot in a nano-photonic waveguide with enhanced light-matter interaction. A power-dependent transmission extinction as large as 40$\pm$2% and clear, voltage-controlled bunching in the photon statistics of the transmitted light demonstrate the single photon character of the nonlinearity. The deterministic nature of the nonlinearity is particularly attractive for the future realization of photonic gates for scalable nano-photonic waveguide-based quantum information processing.

Nikolay I. Zheludev

We review the concept of using nanoparticles undergoing light-induced transformations between structural phases with different optical properties as key components of optical gate and memory elements, with the potential to operate on picosecond timescales at femtojoule energy levels.