We study the absorption and emission polarization of single semiconductor quantum dots in semiconductor nanowires. We show that the polarization of light absorbed or emitted by a nanowire quantum dot strongly depends on the orientation of the nanowire with respect to the directions along which light is incident or emitted. Light is preferentially linearly polarized when directed perpendicular to the nanowire elongation. In contrast, the degree of linear polarization is low for light directed along the nanowire. This result is vital for photonic applications based on intrinsic properties of quantum dots, such as generation of entangled photons. As an example, we demonstrate optical access to the spin states of a single nanowire quantum dot.
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