Resonance fluorescence revival in a voltage-controlled semiconductor quantum dot

We demonstrate systematic resonance fluorescence recovery with near-unity emission efficiency in single quantum dots embedded in a charge-tunable device in a wave-guiding geometry. The quantum dot charge state is controlled by a gate voltage, through carrier tunneling from a close-lying Fermi sea, stabilizing the resonantly photocreated electron-hole pair. The electric field cancels out the charging/discharging mechanisms from nearby traps toward the quantum dots, responsible for the usually observed inhibition of the resonant fluorescence. Fourier transform spectroscopy as a function of the applied voltage shows a strong increase of the coherence time though not reaching the radiative limit. These charge controlled quantum dots act as quasi-perfect deterministic single-photon emitters, with one laser pulse converted into one emitted single photon

Cavity nano-optomechanics in the ultrastrong coupling regime with ultrasensitive force sensors

In a canonical optomechanical system, mechanical vibrations are dynamically encoded on an optical probe field which reciprocally exerts a backaction force. Due to the weak single photon coupling strength achieved with macroscopic oscillators, most of existing experiments were conducted with large photon numbers to achieve sizeable effects, thereby causing a dilution of the original optomechanical non-linearity. Here, we investigate the optomechanical interaction of an ultrasensi-tive suspended nanowire inserted in a fiber-based microcavity mode. This implementation allows to enter far into the hitherto unexplored ultrastrong optomechanical coupling regime, where one single intracavity photon can displace the oscillator by more than its zero point fluctuations. To fully characterize our system, we implement nanowire-based scanning probe measurements to map the vectorial optomechanical coupling strength, but also to reveal the intracavity optomechanical force field experienced by the nanowire. This work establishes that the single photon cavity optomechanics regime is within experimental reach. Introduction-The field of optomechanics has gone through many impressive developments over the last decades [1]. The coupling between a probe light field and a mechanical degree of freedom, an oscillator, possibly assisted by a high finesse cavity was early proposed as an ideal platform to explore the quantum limits of ultrasen-sitive measurements, where the quantum fluctuations of the light are the dominant source of measurement noise [2-5]. The measurement backaction was also employed to manipulate the oscillator state through optical forces and dynamical backaction, leading to optomechanical correlations between both components of the system. In this framework, ground state cooling, mechanical detection of radiation pressure quantum noise, advanced correlation between light and mechanical states or optomechanical squeezing were reported [6-19]. All those impressive results were obtained in the linear regime of cavity optomechanics, making use of large photon numbers, where the interaction Hamiltonian is linearized around an operating setpoint. However, the optomechanical interaction possesses an intrinsic non-linearity at the single excitation level, which has for the moment remained far from experimental reach due to the weak single photon coupling strength achieved with macroscopic oscillators. This regime is achieved when a single photon in the cavity shifts the static rest position of the mechanical resonator by a quantity δx (1) which is larger than its zero point fluctuations δx zpf. A very strong optomechanical interaction is indeed needed to fulfil this condition since it requires g 0 /Ω m > 1 where g 0 is the single photon optomechanical coupling and Ω m the resonant pulsation of the mechanical oscillator. Operating in the ultra-strong coupling regime is thus an experimenta

Ultrasensitive nano-optomechanical force sensor at dilution temperatures

Cooling down nanomechanical force probes is a generic strategy to enhance their sensitivities through the concomitant reduction of their thermal noise and mechanical damping rates. However, heat conduction mechanisms become less efficient at low temperatures, which renders difficult to ensure and verify their proper thermalization. To operate with minimally perturbing measurements, we implement optomechanical readout techniques operating in the photon counting regime to probe the dynamics of suspended silicon carbide nanowires in a dilution refrigerator. Readout of their vibrations is realized with sub-picowatt optical powers, in a regime where less than one photon is collected per oscillation period. We demonstrate their thermalization down to $32\pm2$ mK and report on record sensitivities for scanning probe force sensors, at the $40\,\rm zN/Hz^{1/2}$ level, with a sensitivity to lateral force field gradients in the fN/m range. This work opens the road toward nanomechanical vectorial imaging of faint forces at dilution temperatures, at minimal excitation levels

Interaction between a quantum dot and its environnement : resonant excitation to study decoherence processes

Les boîtes quantiques (BQ) semi-conductrices possèdent une structure électronique discrète qui en fait une excellente source de photons uniques et indiscernables. Elles sont ainsi devenues un système très attractif pour des futures applications en information quantique, grâce à la possibilité de les intégrer dans des nano-dispositifs permettant un couplage efficace lumière-matière. Cependant, les BQs constituent par nature un système ouvert en interagissant fortement avec l'environnement solide, une des conséquences étant la destruction partielle de la cohérence des photons émis. Dans ce travail, nous avons choisi d'utiliser une BQ comme sonde très sensible de ces interactions. Des expériences d'interférences à deux photons, de type Hong-Ou-Mandel, sous excitation résonante et en fonction de la température, nous ont permis d’étudier l'interaction entre une BQ et les phonons acoustiques de la matrice cristalline environnante. En combinant nos résultats expérimentaux et un modèle théorique microscopique, nous avons identifié deux processus distincts responsables de la perte d’indiscernabilité : le premier dû aux transitions réelles par absorption-émission de phonons, le deuxième à cause de transitions virtuelles, processus du deuxième ordre, dues à la présence d’états excités de plus haute énergie dans la boîte. Nous avons par ailleurs étudié des échantillons dopés permettant d’appliquer un champ électrique sur le plan de BQ, mettant en évidence que le contrôle de l’état de charge d’une BQ permet sont excitation résonante systématique.Developments in quantum information processes require the use of solid state qubits that would emit on demand single and indistinguishable photons. Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) show an atom-like spectrum which makes them attractive in this regard. However, a single QD constitutes an open quantum system coupled to its surrounding solid-state environment, the phonon bath and the fluctuating electrostatic environment. This has important consequences on the coherence properties of the electronic system and the QD is a probe to study these fundamental interactions. Using Fourier spectroscopy and temperature-dependent resonant HOM experiments we show that these two mechanisms occur on very different time scales: spectral diffusion is a slow dephasing process acting on microseconds, while phonon interaction takes place in less than one ns. Then, the loss of ndistinguishability in HOM measurements is only related to dephasing induced by the coupling to the phonon bath. The TPI visibility is preserved around 85 % at low temperature, followed by a rapid loss of coherence. To fully understand the experimental results we developed a mircroscopic model for the electron-phonon interaction which allow to obtain analytic expressions for the dephasing rates. Below 10K the relaxation of the vibrational lattice is the dominant contribution to the loss of TPI visibility. This process corresponds to real phonon transitions resulting in a broad phonon sideband in the QD emission spectra. Above 10K, virtual phonon transitions to higher lying excited states become the dominant dephasing mechanism, leading to broadening of the zero phonon line and a corresponding rapid decay in the visibility

Boîte quantique en interaction avec son environnement : excitation résonante pour l'étude des processus de décohérence

Developments in quantum information processes require the use of solid state qubits that would emit on demand single and indistinguishable photons. Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) show an atom-like spectrum which makes them attractive in this regard. However, a single QD constitutes an open quantum system coupled to its surrounding solid-state environment, the phonon bath and the fluctuating electrostatic environment. This has important consequences on the coherence properties of the electronic system and the QD is a probe to study these fundamental interactions. Using Fourier spectroscopy and temperature-dependent resonant HOM experiments we show that these two mechanisms occur on very different time scales: spectral diffusion is a slow dephasing process acting on microseconds, while phonon interaction takes place in less than one ns. Then, the loss of ndistinguishability in HOM measurements is only related to dephasing induced by the coupling to the phonon bath. The TPI visibility is preserved around 85 % at low temperature, followed by a rapid loss of coherence. To fully understand the experimental results we developed a mircroscopic model for the electron-phonon interaction which allow to obtain analytic expressions for the dephasing rates. Below 10K the relaxation of the vibrational lattice is the dominant contribution to the loss of TPI visibility. This process corresponds to real phonon transitions resulting in a broad phonon sideband in the QD emission spectra. Above 10K, virtual phonon transitions to higher lying excited states become the dominant dephasing mechanism, leading to broadening of the zero phonon line and a corresponding rapid decay in the visibility.Les boîtes quantiques (BQ) semi-conductrices possèdent une structure électronique discrète qui en fait une excellente source de photons uniques et indiscernables. Elles sont ainsi devenues un système très attractif pour des futures applications en information quantique, grâce à la possibilité de les intégrer dans des nano-dispositifs permettant un couplage efficace lumière-matière. Cependant, les BQs constituent par nature un système ouvert en interagissant fortement avec l'environnement solide, une des conséquences étant la destruction partielle de la cohérence des photons émis. Dans ce travail, nous avons choisi d'utiliser une BQ comme sonde très sensible de ces interactions. Des expériences d'interférences à deux photons, de type Hong-Ou-Mandel, sous excitation résonante et en fonction de la température, nous ont permis d’étudier l'interaction entre une BQ et les phonons acoustiques de la matrice cristalline environnante. En combinant nos résultats expérimentaux et un modèle théorique microscopique, nous avons identifié deux processus distincts responsables de la perte d’indiscernabilité : le premier dû aux transitions réelles par absorption-émission de phonons, le deuxième à cause de transitions virtuelles, processus du deuxième ordre, dues à la présence d’états excités de plus haute énergie dans la boîte. Nous avons par ailleurs étudié des échantillons dopés permettant d’appliquer un champ électrique sur le plan de BQ, mettant en évidence que le contrôle de l’état de charge d’une BQ permet sont excitation résonante systématique

Resonance fluorescence of a single semiconductor quantum dot : the impact of a fluctuating electrostatic environment

International audienceSemiconductor quantum dots are very efficient sources of single and highly indistinguishable photons. These properties rely on the possibility to coherently control the system at the single spin level. At this ultimate level of control, the quantum dot becomes a very sensitive probe of its solid-state environment and any interaction turns into a dephasing process that alters its coherence properties. In this topical review, we give an overview of the issue of charge noise which remains one of the main dephasing mechanisms to overcome. This phenomenon which strongly depends on sample preparation, originates from a fluctuating electrostatic landscape around the quantum dots and renders a unified description quite awkward. We present the common characteristic features induced by charge noise that have been observed in the resonant fluorescence experiments of single quantum dots and discuss the different approaches that have been proposed in the literature to circumvent this problem

Indistinguishable single photons generated by a quantum dot under resonant excitation observable without postselection

International audienceWe report on two-photon interference of highly indistinguishable single photons emitted by a quantum dot. Strictly resonant excitation with picosecond laser pulses has been used to prepare coherent states with a significantly increased coherence time (T-2 similar to 1 ns) and reduced lifetime (T-1 similar to 650 ps), as compared to a nonresonant excitation scheme. Indistinguishable photons, with visibilities greater than 70%, have been observed by measuring the Hong-Ou-Mandel dip without postselection of the interfering photons. Near-unity indistinguishable photons should be achievable by preventing fluctuations in the electrostatic environment in the vicinity of the dots, considered as an important source of decoherence

Cavity nano-optomechanics with suspended subwavelength-sized nanowires

In the field of cavity nano-optomechanics, the nanoresonator-in-the-middle approach consists in inserting a sub-wavelength sized deformable resonator, here a nanowire, in the small mode volume of a fiber microcavity. Internal resonances in the nanowire enhance the light nanowire interaction which provide giant coupling strengthes-sufficient to enter the single photon regime of cavity optomechanics-at the condition to precisely position the nanowire within the cavity field. Here we expose a theoretical description that combines an analytical formulation of the Mie-scattering of the intracavity light by the nanowire and an input-output formalism describing the dynamics of the intracavity optical eigenmodes. We investigate both facets of the optomechanical interaction describing the position dependent parametric and dissipative optomechanical coupling strengths, as well as the optomechanical force field experienced by the nanowire. We find a quantitative agreement with recent experimental realization. We discuss the specific phenomenology of the optomechanical interaction which acquires a vectorial character since the nanowire can identically vibrate along both transverse directions: the optomechanical force field presents a non-zero rotational, while anomalous positive cavity shifts are expected. Taking advantage of the large Kerr-like non linearity, this work opens perspectives in the field of quantum optics with nanoresonator with for instance broadband squeezing of the outgoing cavity fields close to the single photon level