Highly entangled photons from hybrid piezoelectric-semiconductor quantum dot devices

Entanglement resources are key ingredients of future quantum technologies. If they could be efficiently integrated into a semiconductor platform a new generation of devices could be envisioned, whose quantum-mechanical functionalities are controlled via the mature semiconductor technology. Epitaxial quantum dots (QDs) embedded in diodes would embody such ideal quantum devices, but QD structural asymmetries lower dramatically the degree of entanglement of the sources and hamper severely their real exploitation in the foreseen applications. In this work, we overcome this hurdle using strain-tunable optoelectronic devices, where any QD can be tuned for the emission of highly polarization-entangled photons. The electrically-controlled sources violate Bell inequalities without the need of spectral or temporal filtering and they feature the highest degree of entanglement ever reported for QDs, with concurrence as high as 0.75(2). These quantum-devices are at present the most promising candidates for the direct implementation of QD-based entanglement-resources in quantum information science and technology

Inversion of the exciton built-in dipole moment in In(Ga)As quantum dots via nonlinear piezoelectric effect

We show that anisotropic biaxial stress can be used to tune the built-in dipole moment of excitons confined in In(Ga)As quantum dots up to complete erasure of its magnitude and inversion of its sign. We demonstrate that this phenomenon is due to piezoelectricity. We present a model to calculate the applied stress, taking advantage of the so-called piezotronic effect, which produces significant changes in the current-voltage characteristics of the strained diode-membranes containing the quantum dots. Finally, self-consistent k.p calculations reveal that the experimental findings can be only accounted for by the nonlinear piezoelectric effect, whose importance in quantum dot physics has been theoretically recognized although it has proven difficult to single out experimentally.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Wavelength-tunable sources of entangled photons interfaced with atomic vapours

The prospect of using the quantum nature of light for secure communication keeps spurring the search and investigation of suitable sources of entangled photons. A single semiconductor quantum dot is one of the most attractive, as it can generate indistinguishable entangled photons deterministically and is compatible with current photonic-integration technologies. However, the lack of control over the energy of the entangled photons is hampering the exploitation of dissimilar quantum dots in protocols requiring the teleportation of quantum entanglement over remote locations. Here we introduce quantum dot-based sources of polarization-entangled photons whose energy can be tuned via three-directional strain engineering without degrading the degree of entanglement of the photon pairs. As a test-bench for quantum communication, we interface quantum dots with clouds of atomic vapours, and we demonstrate slow-entangled photons from a single quantum emitter. These results pave the way towards the implementation of hybrid quantum networks where entanglement is distributed among distant parties using optoelectronic devices

Atomic Clouds as Spectrally-Selective and Tunable Delay Lines for Single Photons from Quantum Dots

We demonstrate a compact, spectrally-selective, and tunable delay line for single photons emitted by quantum dots. This is achieved by fine-tuning the wavelength of the optical transitions of such "artificial atoms" into a spectral window in which a cloud of natural atoms behaves as slow-light medium. By employing the ground-state fine-structure-split exciton confined in an InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot as a source of single photons at different frequencies and the hyperfine-structure-split $D_1$ transition of Cs-vapors as a tunable delay-medium, we achieve a differential delay of up 2.4 ns on a 7.5 cm long path for photons that are only 60 \mu eV (14.5 GHz) apart. To quantitatively explain the experimental data we develop a theoretical model that accounts for both the inhomogeneously broadening of the quantum-dot emission lines and the Doppler-broadening of the atomic lines. The concept we proposed here may be used to implement time-reordering operations aimed at erasing the "which-path" information that deteriorates entangled-photon emission from excitons with finite fine-structure-splitting.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figure

Slow and fast single photons from a quantum dot interacting with the excited state hyperfine structure of the Cesium D1-line

Hybrid interfaces between distinct quantum systems play a major role in the implementation of quantum networks. Quantum states have to be stored in memories to synchronize the photon arrival times for entanglement swapping by projective measurements in quantum repeaters or for entanglement purification. Here, we analyze the distortion of a single-photon wave packet propagating through a dispersive and absorptive medium with high spectral resolution. Single photons are generated from a single In(Ga)As quantum dot with its excitonic transition precisely set relative to the Cesium D1 transition. The delay of spectral components of the single-photon wave packet with almost Fourier-limited width is investigated in detail with a 200 MHz narrow-band monolithic Fabry-Pérot resonator. Reflecting the excited state hyperfine structure of Cesium, “slow light” and “fast light” behavior is observed. As a step towards room-temperature alkali vapor memories, quantum dot photons are delayed for 5 ns by strong dispersion between the two 1.17 GHz hyperfine-split excited state transitions. Based on optical pumping on the hyperfine-split ground states, we propose a simple, all-optically controllable delay for synchronization of heralded narrow-band photons in a quantum network.DFG, 43659573, SFB 787: Halbleiter - Nanophotonik: Materialien, Modelle, BauelementeEC/H2020/679183/EU/Entanglement distribution via Semiconductor-Piezoelectric Quantum-Dot Relays/SPQRe

High yield and ultrafast sources of electrically triggered entangled-photon pairs based on strain-tunable quantum dots

Triggered sources of entangled photon pairs are key components in most quantum communication protocols. For practical quantum applications, electrical triggering would allow the realization of compact and deterministic sources of entangled photons. Entangled-light-emitting-diodes based on semiconductor quantum dots are among the most promising sources that can potentially address this task. However, entangled-light-emitting-diodes are plagued by a source of randomness, which results in a very low probability of finding quantum dots with sufficiently small fine structure splitting for entangled-photon generation (∼10−2). Here we introduce strain-tunable entangled-light-emitting-diodes that exploit piezoelectric-induced strains to tune quantum dots for entangled-photon generation. We demonstrate that up to 30% of the quantum dots in strain-tunable entangled-light-emitting-diodes emit polarization-entangled photons. An entanglement fidelity as high as 0.83 is achieved with fast temporal post selection. Driven at high speed, that is 400 MHz, strain-tunable entangled-light-emitting-diodes emerge as promising devices for high data-rate quantum applications

Strain-tunable entangled-light-emitting diodes with high yield and fast operation speed

Triggered sources of entangled photons play crucial roles in almost any existing protocol of quantum information science. The possibility to generate these non-classical states of light with high speed and using electrical pulses could revolutionize the field. Entangled-light-emitting-diodes (ELEDs) based on semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are at present the only devices that can address this task 5. However, ELEDs are plagued by a source of randomness that hampers their practical exploitation in the foreseen applications: the very low probability (~10-2) of finding QDs with sufficiently small fine-structure-splitting for entangled-photon-generation. Here, we overcome this hurdle by introducing the first strain-tunable ELEDs (S-ELEDs) that exploit piezoelectric-induced strains to tune QDs for entangled-photon-generation. We demonstrate that up to 30% of the QDs in S-ELEDs emit polarization-entangled photon pairs with entanglement-fidelities as high as f+ = 0.83(5). Driven at the highest operation speed of 400 MHz ever reported so far, S-ELEDs emerge as unique devices for high-data rate entangled-photon applications.Comment: 28 pages in total, including supplementary information. 5 figure

Electrically-Pumped Wavelength-Tunable GaAs Quantum Dots Interfaced with Rubidium Atoms

We demonstrate the first wavelength-tunable electrically-pumped source of non-classical light that can emit photons with wavelength in resonance with the D2 transitions of 87Rb atoms. The device is fabricated by integrating a novel GaAs single-quantum-dot light-emitting-diode (LED) onto a piezoelectric actuator. By feeding the emitted photons into a 75-mm-long cell containing warm 87Rb atom vapor, we observe slow-light with a temporal delay of up to 3.4 ns. In view of the possibility of using 87Rb atomic vapors as quantum memories, this work makes an important step towards the realization of hybrid-quantum systems for future quantum networks

Wavelength-tunable sources of entangled photons interfaced with atomic vapours

The prospect of using the quantum nature of light for secure communication keeps spurring the search and investigation of suitable sources of entangled photons. A single semiconductor quantum dot is one of the most attractive, as it can generate indistinguishable entangled photons deterministically and is compatible with current photonic-integration technologies. However, the lack of control over the energy of the entangled photons is hampering the exploitation of dissimilar quantum dots in protocols requiring the teleportation of quantum entanglement over remote locations. Here we introduce quantum dot-based sources of polarization-entangled photons whose energy can be tuned via three-directional strain engineering without degrading the degree of entanglement of the photon pairs. As a test-bench for quantum communication, we interface quantum dots with clouds of atomic vapours, and we demonstrate slow-entangled photons from a single quantum emitter. These results pave the way towards the implementation of hybrid quantum networks where entanglement is distributed among distant parties using optoelectronic devices