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Single photons on-demand from light-hole excitons in strain-engineered quantum dots
Jiaxiang Zhang1, Yongheng Huo, Armando Rastelli
1Institute for Integrative Nanosciences, IFW Dresden , Helmholtzstraße 20, 01069, Dresden, Germany.
Nano Letters
|December 5, 2014
Summary
Researchers achieved on-demand, wavelength-tunable single-photon emission using light-hole (LH) excitons in strained Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) quantum dots (QDs). This breakthrough enables new possibilities for semiconductor-based quantum interfaces in quantum networks.
Area of Science:
- Quantum Optics
- Semiconductor Nanostructures
- Quantum Information Science
Background:
- Single-photon sources (SPS) are crucial for quantum technologies.
- Light-hole (LH) excitons in quantum dots (QDs) offer potential for SPS applications.
- Controlling and tuning exciton emission is key for practical quantum systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate on-demand, wavelength-tunable single-photon emission from LH excitons in GaAs QDs.
- To investigate the properties of LH photon emission in strained GaAs QDs.
- To explore the potential of this system for quantum networking applications.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of strain-engineered GaAs quantum dots (QDs).
- Integration of QD nanomembranes onto a piezo-actuator.
- Excitation of single QDs using picosecond laser pulses.
- Characterization via polarization-resolved, power-dependent photoluminescence spectroscopy, photon-correlation measurements, and Fourier transform spectroscopy.
Main Results:
- Achieved on-demand and wavelength-tunable single-photon emission from LH excitons.
- Systematically investigated LH photon emission properties, including polarization and power dependence.
- Studied the coherence time of the LH single-photon emission.
Conclusions:
- Demonstrated a novel method for generating tunable single photons from LH excitons in GaAs QDs.
- This light-hole exciton-based single-photon source (SPS) shows promise for all-semiconductor quantum interfaces.
- Potential applications include distributed quantum networks and quantum communication.
