Stimulated Generation of Indistinguishable Single Photons from a Quantum Ladder System

We propose a scheme for the generation of highly indistinguishable single photons using semiconductor quantum dots and demonstrate its performance and potential. The scheme is based on the resonant two-photon excitation of the biexciton followed by stimulation of the biexciton to selectively prepare an exciton. Quantum-optical simulations and experiments are in good agreement and show that the scheme provides significant advantages over previously demonstrated excitation methods. The two-photon excitation of the biexciton suppresses re-excitation and enables ultralow multiphoton errors, while the precisely timed stimulation pulse results in very low timing jitter of the photons, and consequently, high indistinguishability. In addition, the polarization of the stimulation pulse allows us to deterministically program the polarization of the emitted photon (H or V). This ensures that all emission of interest occurs in the polarization of the detection channel, resulting in higher brightness than cross-polarized resonant excitation.