No Arabic abstract
Deterministic coupling between photonic nodes in a quantum network is an essential step towards implementing various quantum technologies. The omnidirectionality of free-standing emitters, however, makes this coupling highly inefficient, in particular if the distant nodes are coupled via low numerical aperture (NA) channels such as optical fibers. This limitation requires placing quantum emitters in nanoantennas that can direct the photons into the channels with very high efficiency. Moreover, to be able to scale such technologies to a large number of channels, the placing of the emitters should be deterministic. In this work we present a method for directly locating single free-standing quantum emitters with high spatial accuracy at the center of highly directional bullseye metal-dielectric nanoantennas. We further employ non-blinking, high quantum yield colloidal quantum dots (QDs) for on-demand single-photon emission that is uncompromised by instabilities or non-radiative exciton recombination processes. Taken together this approach results in a record-high collection efficiency of 85% of the single photons into a low NA of 0.5, setting the stage for efficient coupling between on-chip, room temperature nanoantenna-emitter devices and a fiber or a remote free-space node without the need for additional optics.
Photonic quantum technologies call for scalable quantum light sources that can be integrated, while providing the end user with single and entangled photons on-demand. One promising candidate are strain free GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots obtained by droplet etching. Such quantum dots exhibit ultra low multi-photon probability and an unprecedented degree of photon pair entanglement. However, different to commonly studied InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots obtained by the Stranski-Krastanow mode, photons with a near-unity indistinguishability from these quantum emitters have proven to be elusive so far. Here, we show on-demand generation of near-unity indistinguishable photons from these quantum emitters by exploring pulsed resonance fluorescence. Given the short intrinsic lifetime of excitons confined in the GaAs quantum dots, we show single photon indistinguishability with a raw visibility of $V_{raw}=(94.2pm5.2),%$, without the need for Purcell enhancement. Our results represent a milestone in the advance of GaAs quantum dots by demonstrating the final missing property standing in the way of using these emitters as a key component in quantum communication applications, e.g. as an entangled source for quantum repeater architectures.
Many quantum computation and communication schemes require, or would significantly benefit from, true sources of single photon on-demand (SPOD). Unfortunately, such sources do not exist. It is becoming increasingly clear that coupling photons out of a SPOD source will be a limiting factor in many SPOD implementations. In particular, coupling these source outputs into optical fibers (usually single mode fibers) is often the preferred method for handling this light. We investigate the practical limits to this coupling as relates to parametric downconversion, an important starting point for many SPOD schemes. We also explored whether it is possible to optimize the engineering of the downconversion sources to improve on this coupling. We present our latest results in this area.
Single photons produced by fundamentally dissimilar physical processes will in general not be indistinguishable. We show how photons produced from a quantum dot and by parametric down-conversion in a nonlinear crystal can be manipulated to be indistinguishable. The measured two-photon coalescence probability is 16%, and is limited by quantum-dot decoherence. Temporal filtering to the quantum dot coherence time and accounting for detector time response increases this to 61% while retaining 25% of the events. This technique can connect different elements in a scalable quantum network.
Owing to a reduced solar background and low propagation losses in the atmosphere, the 2- to 2.5-$mu$m waveband is a promising candidate for daylight quantum communication. This spectral region also offers low losses and low dispersion in hollow-core fibers and in silicon waveguides. We demonstrate for the first time the capability for entanglement-based quantum key distribution (QKD) at 2.1 $mu$m, obtaining a positive secure-key rate (0.417 bits/pair, with a quantum bit error rate of 5.43%) using near-maximally entangled photon pairs in a proof-of-principle device-independent QKD scenario.
Semiconductor quantum dots embedded in micro-pillar cavities are excellent emitters of single photons when pumped resonantly. Often, the same spatial mode is used to both resonantly excite a quantum dot and to collect the emitted single photons, requiring cross-polarization to reduce the uncoupled scattered laser light. This inherently reduces the source brightness to 50 %. Critically, for some quantum applications the total efficiency from generation to detection must be over 50 %. Here, we demonstrate a resonant-excitation approach to creating single photons that is free of any cross-polarization, and in fact any filtering whatsoever. It potentially increases single-photon rates and collection efficiencies, and simplifies operation. This integrated device allows us to resonantly excite single quantum-dot states in several cavities in the plane of the device using connected waveguides, while the cavity-enhanced single-photon fluorescence is directed vertical (off-chip) in a Gaussian mode. We expect this design to be a prototype for larger chip-scale quantum photonics.