Bright single photon emission from a quantum dot in a circular Bragg grating microcavity

Bright single photon emission from single quantum dots in suspended circular Bragg grating microcavities is demonstrated. This geometry has been designed to achieve efficient (> 50 %) single photon extraction into a near-Gaussian shaped far-field pattern, modest (~10x) Purcell enhancement of the radiative rate, and a spectral bandwidth of a few nanometers. Measurements of fabricated devices show progress towards these goals, with collection efficiencies as high as ~10% demonstrated with moderate spectral bandwidth and rate enhancement. Photon correlation measurements are performed under above-bandgap excitation (pump wavelength = 780 nm to 820 nm) and confirm the single photon character of the collected emission. While the measured sources are all antibunched and dominantly composed of single photons, the multi-photon probability varies significantly. Devices exhibiting tradeoffs between collection efficiency, Purcell enhancement, and multi-photon probability are explored and the results are interpreted with the help of finite-difference time-domain simulations. Below-bandgap excitation resonant with higher states of the quantum dot and/or cavity (pump wavelength = 860 nm to 900 nm) shows a near-complete suppression of multi-photon events and may circumvent some of the aforementioned tradeoffs.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure

Quantum dot spectroscopy using cavity QED

Cavity quantum electrodynamics has attracted substantial interest, both due to its potential role in the field of quantum information processing and as a testbed for basic experiments in quantum mechanics. Here, we show how cavity quantum electrodynamics using a tunable photonic crystal nanocavity in the strong coupling regime can be used for single quantum dot spectroscopy. From the distinctive avoided crossings observed in the strongly coupled system we can identify the neutral and single positively charged exciton as well as the biexciton transitions. Moreover we are able to investigate the fine structure of those transitions and to identify a novel cavity mediated mixing of bright and dark exciton states, where the hyperfine interactions with lattice nuclei presumably play a key role. These results are enabled by a deterministic coupling scheme which allowed us to achieve unprecedented coupling strengths in excess of 0.15 meV.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Multiple time scale blinking in InAs quantum dot single-photon sources

We use photon correlation measurements to study blinking in single, epitaxially-grown self-assembled InAs quantum dots situated in circular Bragg grating and microdisk cavities. The normalized second-order correlation function g(2)(\tau) is studied across eleven orders of magnitude in time, and shows signatures of blinking over timescales ranging from tens of nanoseconds to tens of milliseconds. The g(2)(\tau) data is fit to a multi-level system rate equation model that includes multiple non-radiating (dark) states, from which radiative quantum yields significantly less than 1 are obtained. This behavior is observed even in situations for which a direct histogramming analysis of the emission time-trace data produces inconclusive results

Strong Electron-Hole Exchange in Coherently Coupled Quantum Dots

We have investigated few-body states in vertically stacked quantum dots. Due to small inter-dot tunneling rate, the coupling in our system is in a previously unexplored regime where electron-hole exchange is the dominant spin interaction. By tuning the gate bias, we are able to turn this coupling off and study a complementary regime where total electron spin is a good quantum number. The use of differential transmission allows us to obtain unambiguous signatures of the interplay between electron and hole spin interactions. Small tunnel coupling also enables us to demonstrate all-optical charge sensing, where conditional exciton energy shift in one dot identifies the charging state of the coupled partner.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Giant optical anisotropy in a single InAs quantum dot in a very dilute quantum-dot ensemble

We present the experimental evidence of giant optical anisotropy in single InAs quantum dots. Polarization-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy reveals a linear polarization ratio with huge fluctuations, from one quantum dot to another, in sign and in magnitude with absolute values up to 82%. Systematic measurements on hundreds of quantum dots coming from two different laboratories demonstrate that the giant optical anisotropy is an intrinsic feature of dilute quantum-dot arrays.Comment: submitted to Applied Physics Letter

Nanoscale optical positioning of single quantum dots for bright and pure single-photon emission

Self-assembled, epitaxially grown InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) are promising semiconductor quantum emitters that can be integrated on a chip for a variety of photonic quantum information science applications. However, self-assembled growth results in an essentially random in-plane spatial distribution of QDs, presenting a challenge in creating devices that exploit the strong interaction of single QDs with highly confined optical modes. Here, we present a photoluminescence imaging approach for locating single QDs with respect to alignment features with an average position uncertainty <30?nm (<10?nm when using a solid-immersion lens), which represents an enabling technology for the creation of optimized single QD devices. To that end, we create QD single-photon sources, based on a circular Bragg grating geometry, that simultaneously exhibit high collection efficiency (48%±5% into a 0.4 numerical aperture lens, close to the theoretically predicted value of 50%), low multiphoton probability (g(2)(0) <1%), and a significant Purcell enhancement factor (?3)

Two-photon interference using background-free quantum frequency conversion of single photons from a semiconductor quantum dot

We show that quantum frequency conversion (QFC) can overcome the spectral distinguishability common to inhomogeneously broadened solid-state quantum emitters. QFC is implemented by combining single photons from an InAs quantum dot (QD) at 980 nm with a 1550 nm pump laser in a periodically-poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide to generate photons at 600 nm with a signal-to-background ratio exceeding 100:1. Photon correlation and two-photon interference measurements confirm that both the single photon character and wavepacket interference of individual QD states are preserved during frequency conversion. Finally, we convert two spectrally separate QD transitions to the same wavelength in a single PPLN waveguide and show that the resulting field exhibits non-classical two-photon interference.Comment: Supercedes arXiv:1205.221

GHz bandwidth electro-optics of a single self-assembled quantum dot in a charge-tunable device

The response of a single InGaAs quantum dot, embedded in a miniaturized charge-tunable device, to an applied GHz bandwidth electrical pulse is investigated via its optical response. Quantum dot response times of 1.0 \pm 0.1 ns are characterized via several different measurement techniques, demonstrating GHz bandwidth electrical control. Furthermore a novel optical detection technique based on resonant electron-hole pair generation in the hybridization region is used to map fully the voltage pulse experienced by the quantum dot, showing in this case a simple exponential rise.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure