274 research outputs found
Unconditionally secure quantum key distribution over 50km of standard telecom fibre
We demonstrate a weak pulse quantum key distribution system using the BB84
protocol which is secure against all individual attacks, including photon
number splitting. By carefully controlling the weak pulse intensity we
demonstrate the maximum secure bit rate as a function of the fibre length.
Unconditionally secure keys can be formed for standard telecom fibres exceeding
50 km in length.Comment: 9 pages 2 figure
The Effect of Stochastic Noise on Quantum State Transfer
We consider the effect of classical stochastic noise on control laser pulses
used in a scheme for transferring quantum information between atoms, or quantum
dots, in separate optical cavities via an optical connection between cavities.
We develop a master equation for the dynamics of the system subject to
stochastic errors in the laser pulses, and use this to evaluate the sensitivity
of the transfer process to stochastic pulse shape errors for a number of
different pulse shapes. We show that under certain conditions, the sensitivity
of the transfer to the noise depends on the pulse shape, and develop a method
for determining a pulse shape that is minimally sensitive to specific errors.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, to appear in Physical Review
Enhanced indistinguishability of in-plane single photons by resonance fluorescence on an integrated quantum dot
Integrated quantum light sources in photonic circuits are envisaged as the building blocks of future on-chip architectures for quantum logic operations. While semiconductor quantum dots have been proven to be the highly efficient emitters of quantum light, their interaction with the host material induces spectral decoherence, which decreases the indistinguishability of the emitted photons and limits their functionality. Here, we show that the indistinguishability of in-plane photons can be greatly enhanced by performing resonance fluorescence on a quantum dot coupled to a photonic crystal waveguide. We find that the resonant optical excitation of an exciton state induces an increase in the emitted single-photon coherence by a factor of 15. Two-photon interference experiments reveal a visibility of 0.80 ± 0.03, which is in good agreement with our theoretical model. Combined with the high in-plane light-injection efficiency of photonic crystal waveguides, our results pave the way for the use of this system for the on-chip generation and transmission of highly indistinguishable photons
Theory of combined exciton-cyclotron resonance in a two-dimensional electron gas: The strong magnetic field regime
I develop a theory of combined exciton-cyclotron resonance (ExCR) in a
low-density two-dimensional electron gas in high magnetic fields. In the
presence of excess electrons an incident photon creates an exciton and
simultaneously excites one electron to higher-lying Landau levels. I derive
exact ExCR selection rules that follow from the existing dynamical symmetries,
magnetic translations and rotations about the magnetic field axis. The nature
of the final states in the ExCR is elucidated. The relation between ExCR and
shake-up processes is discussed. The double-peak ExCR structure for transitions
to the first electron Landau level is predicted.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, replaced with the published versio
Gigahertz-clocked teleportation of time-bin qubits with a quantum dot in the telecommunication C Band
Teleportation is a fundamental concept of quantum mechanics with an important application in extending the range of quantum communication channels via quantum relay nodes. To be compatible with real-world technology such as secure quantum key distribution over fiber networks, such a relay node should ideally operate at gigahertz clock rates and accept time-bin-encoded qubits in the low-loss telecom band around 1550 nm. Here, we show that In As-In P droplet-epitaxy quantum dots, with their sub-Poissonian emission near 1550 nm, are ideally suited for the realization of this technology. To create the necessary on-demand photon emission at gigahertz clock rates, we develop a flexible-pulsed optical-excitation scheme and demonstrate that the fast driving conditions are compatible with a low multiphoton emission rate. We show further that, even under these driving conditions, photon pairs obtained from the biexciton cascade show an entanglement fidelity close to 90%, comparable to the value obtained under continuous-wave excitation. Using asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometers and our photon source, we finally construct a time-bin qubit quantum relay able to receive and send time-bin-encoded photons and demonstrate mean teleportation fidelities of 0.82 ± 0.01, exceeding the classical limit by more than ten standard deviations
A quantum dot as a source of time-bin entangled multi-photon states
A quantum computer has the potential to revolutionize multiple industries by enabling a drastic speed-up relative to classical computers for certain quantum algorithms and simulations. Linear optical quantum computing is an approach that uses photons as qubits, which are known for suffering little from decoherence. A source of multiple entangled and indistinguishable photons would be a significant step in the development of an optical quantum computer. Consequently, multiple proposals for the generation of such a stream of photons have recently been put forward. Here we introduce an alternative scheme based on a semiconductor quantum dot (QD) embedded in an optical microcavity in a magnetic field. A single charge carrier trapped in the dot has an associated spin that can be controlled by ultrashort optical pulses. Photons are sequentially generated by resonant scattering from the QD, while the charge spin is used to determine the encoding of the photons into time-bins. In this way a multi-photon entangled state can be gradually built up. With a simple optical pulse sequence we demonstrate a proof of principle experiment of our proposal by showing that the time-bin of a single photon is dependent on the measured state of the trapped charge spin
Absorption spectrum of a weakly n-doped semiconductor quantum well
We calculate, as a function of temperature and conduction band electron
density, the optical absorption of a weakly n-doped, idealized semiconductor
quantum well. In particular, we focus on the absorption band due to the
formation of a charged exciton. We conceptualize the charged exciton as an
itinerant excitation intimately linked to the dynamical response of itinerant
conduction band electrons to the appearance of the photo-generated valence band
hole. Numerical results for the absorption in the vicinity of the exciton line
are presented and the spectral weights associated with, respectively, the
charged exciton band and the exciton line are analyzed in detail. We find, in
qualitative agreement with experimental data, that the spectral weight of the
charged exciton grows with increasing conduction band electron density and/or
decreasing temperature at the expense of the exciton.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
The key project managers’ competences for different types of projects
This paper describes a quantitative research approach for identifying
key project managers’ competences for different types of projects. By
identifying the perceived most valuable project manager competences, as
having the most potential for increased contribution to project management
(PM) performance, practitioners and organizations can select their priorities
when developing their PM practices. The 46 competences (technical,
behavioural and contextual) provided by IPMA (International Project
Management Association) were surveyed through an online questionnaire.
Three dimensions to distinguish project types were used: application area,
innovation and complexity. Completed questionnaires were received from 96
project managers from Portugal. The results showed that 13 key competences
(20%) were common to the majority of the projects. Most of these are
behavioural competences, such as: ethics, reliability, engagement, openness,
and leadership. It was also observed a clear correlation between technical
competences and project complexity
Negatively Charged Excitons and Photoluminescence in Asymmetric Quantum Well
We study photoluminescence (PL) of charged excitons () in narrow
asymmetric quantum wells in high magnetic fields B. The binding of all
states strongly depends on the separation of electron and hole layers.
The most sensitive is the ``bright'' singlet, whose binding energy decreases
quickly with increasing even at relatively small B. As a result, the
value of B at which the singlet--triplet crossing occurs in the spectrum
also depends on and decreases from 35 T in a symmetric 10 nm GaAs well
to 16 T for nm. Since the critical values of at which
different states unbind are surprisingly small compared to the well
width, the observation of strongly bound states in an experimental PL
spectrum implies virtually no layer displacement in the sample. This casts
doubt on the interpretation of PL spectra of heterojunctions in terms of
recombination
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