Jan Kettler

Single-photon emission at 1.55 μm from MOVPE-grown InAs quantum dots on InGaAs/GaAs metamorphic buffers

By metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy, we have fabricated InAs quantum dots (QDs) on InGaAs/GaAs metamorphic buffer layers on a GaAs substrate with area densities that allow addressing single quantum dots. The photoluminescence emission from the quantum dots is shifted to the telecom C-band at 1.55 μm with a high yield due to the reduced stress in the quantum dots. The lowered residual strain at the surface of the metamorphic buffer layer results in a reduced lattice mismatch between the quantum dot material and growth surface. The quantum dots exhibit resolution-limited linewidths (mean value: 59 μeV) and low fine-structure splittings. Furthermore, we demonstrate single-photon emission ( g ( 2 ) ( 0 ) = 0.003 ) at 1.55 μm and decay times on the order of 1.4 ns comparable to InAs QDs directly deposited on GaAs substrates. Our results suggest that these quantum dots can not only compete with their counterparts deposited on InP substrates but also constitute an InAs/GaAs-only approach for the development of ...

Metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy-grown ultra-low density InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots exhibiting cascaded single-photon emission at 1.3 μm

By metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy, we have fabricated InGaAs quantum dots on GaAs substrate with an ultra-low lateral density ( <107 cm−2). The photoluminescence emission from the quantum dots is shifted to the telecom O-band at 1.31 μm by an InGaAs strain reducing layer. In time-resolved measurements, we find fast decay times for exciton (∼600 ps) and biexciton (∼300 ps). We demonstrate triggered single-photon emission ( g(2)(0)=0.08) as well as cascaded emission from the biexciton decay. Our results suggest that these quantum dots can compete with their counterparts grown by state-of-the-art molecular beam epitaxy.

Low-noise quantum frequency down-conversion of indistinguishable photons

We present experimental results on quantum frequency down-conversion of indistinguishable single photons emitted by an InAs/GaAs quantum dot at 904 nm to the telecom C-band at 1557 nm. Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference measurements are shown prior to and after the down-conversion step. We perform Monte-Carlo simulations of the HOM experiments taking into account the time delays of the different interferometers used and the signal-to-background ratio and further estimate the impact of spectral diffusion on the degree of indistinguishability. By that we conclude that the down-conversion step does not introduce any loss of HOM interference visibility. A noise-free conversion-process along with a high conversion-efficiency (> 30 %) emphasize that our scheme is a promising candidate for an efficient source of indistinguishable single photons at telecom wavelengths.

Structural and emission properties of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots emitting at 1.3 μm

A combined experimental and theoretical study of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) emitting at 1.3 μm under the influence of a strain-reducing InGaAs quantum well is presented. We demonstrate a red shift of 20–40 nm observed in photoluminescence spectra due to the quantum well. The InGaAs/GaAs QDs grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy show a bimodal height distribution (1 nm and 5 nm) and indium concentrations up to 90%. The emission properties are explained with combined tight-binding and configuration-interaction calculations of the emission wavelengths in conjunction with high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy investigations of QD geometry and indium concentrations in the QDs, which directly enter the calculations. QD geometries and concentration gradients representative for the ensemble are identified.

Generation, guiding and splitting of triggered single photons from a resonantly excited quantum dot in a photonic circuit

We demonstrate resonance fluorescence from single In-GaAs/GaAs quantum dots embedded in a rib waveguide beamsplitter structure operated under pulsed laser excitation. A systematic study on the excitation laser pulse duration depicts that a sufficiently small laser linewidth enables a substantial improved single-photon-to-laser-background ratio inside a waveguide chip. This manifests in the observation of clear Rabi oscillations over two periods of the quantum dot emission as a function of laser excitation power. A photon cross-correlation measurement between the two output arms of an on-chip beamsplitter results in a g(2)(0)=0.18, demonstrating the generation, guiding and splitting of triggered single photons under resonant excitation in an on-chip device. The present results open new perspectives for the implementation of photonic quantum circuits with integrated quantum dots as resonantly-pumped deterministic single-photon sources.

Temperature-dependent properties of single long-wavelength InGaAs quantum dots embedded in a strain reducing layer

We report on temperature-dependent investigations of single metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy-grown In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots at wavelengths above 1 μm. Here, two types of samples are compared, whereas the quantum dots differ in the material composition and are embedded in a strain reducing layer to achieve an emission redshift. The analysis is performed by standard micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy, time-correlated photon counting, and intensity second-order autocorrelation measurements. It is found that the long-wavelength quantum dots experience a high charge carrier confinement (∼200 meV), but the thermal emission of carriers into the barrier or the wetting layer is mainly dominated by the shell spacing of individual dots. Additionally, we demonstrate that the single-dot carrier dynamics is reservoir-dominated. The influence of the strain reducing layers seems to cause this effect, leading to changes in the effective dot filling rate and charge configuration. Single-photon emission is preserved up...

Polarization-entangled photons from an InGaAs-based quantum dot emitting in the telecom C-band

We demonstrate the emission of polarization-entangled photons from a single semiconductor quantum dot in the telecom C-band (1530 nm–1565 nm). To reach this telecommunication window, the well-established material system of InAs quantum dots embedded in InGaAs barriers is utilized with an additional insertion of an InGaAs metamorphic buffer to spectrally shift the system to the desired wavelengths. For the observation of polarization-entangled photon pairs, the biexciton-exciton cascade of a quantum dot displaying an intrinsically low fine-structure splitting is investigated by means of polarization-dependent cross-correlation measurements. A complete set of tomography measurements enables us to reconstruct the two-photon density matrix and therefore to calculate a corresponding fidelity f+ to the maximally entangled Bell state Ψ+ of 0.61 ± 0.07, a concurrence of 0.74 ± 0.11, a tangle of 0.55 ± 0.14, and a negativity of 0.63 ± 0.12, clearly proving the entanglement of the states. Finally, the development o...

Two-photon interference in the telecom C-band after frequency conversion of photons from remote quantum emitters

Efficient fibre-based long-distance quantum communication via quantum repeaters relies on deterministic single-photon sources at telecom wavelengths, potentially exploiting the existing world-wide infrastructures. For upscaling the experimental complexity in quantum networking, two-photon interference (TPI) of remote non-classical emitters in the low-loss telecom bands is of utmost importance. Several experiments have been conducted regarding TPI of distinct emitters, for example, using trapped atoms1, ions2, nitrogen vacancy centres3,4, silicon vacancy centres5, organic molecules6 and semiconductor quantum dots7,8. However, the spectral range was far from the highly desirable telecom C-band. Here, we exploit quantum frequency conversion to realize TPI at 1,550 nm with single photons stemming from two remote quantum dots. We thereby prove quantum frequency conversion9–11 as a bridging technology and a precise and stable mechanism to erase the frequency difference between independent emitters. On resonance, a TPI visibility of 29  ± 3% has been observed, limited only by the spectral diffusion processes of the individual quantum dots12,13. The local fibre network used covers several rooms between two floors of the building. Even the addition of up to 2 km of fibre channel shows no influence on the TPI visibility, proving the photon wavepacket distortion to be negligible. Our studies pave the way to establish long-distance entanglement distribution between remote solid-state emitters including interfaces with various quantum hybrid systems14–16.Quantum interference of two photons can be extended to the mid-infrared region by using quantum frequency conversion.

Single-photon and polarization-entangled photon emission from InAs quantum dots in the telecom C-band

We report on the optical properties of recently developed telecom-wavelength quantum dots based on the GaAs material system. In order to achieve the InAs quantum dot wavelength shift towards the telecom C-band, strain-relaxation with the help of an InGaAs metamorphic buffer is realized. The general emission properties of the quantum dot ensemble and single dots is analyzed, containing analysis of lifetime measurements and fine-structure splitting investigations. Single-photon emission is verified for excitation in continuous wave and pulsed mode. The generation of polarization-entangled photon pairs via the biexciton-exciton radiative cascade is shown, even for increasing time windows and time delays.

Low-noise quantum frequency down-conversion of indistinguishable photons(Conference Presentation)

Single-photon sources based on quantum dots have been shown to exhibit almost ideal properties such as high brightness and purity in terms of clear anti-bunching as well as high two-photon interference visibilities of the emitted photons, making them promising candidates for different quantum information applications such as quantum computing, quantum communication and quantum teleportation. However, as most single-photon sources also quantum dots typically emit light at wavelengths of electronic transitions within the visible or the near infrared range. In order to establish quantum networks with remote building blocks, low-loss single photons at telecom wavelengths are preferable, though. Despite recent progress on emitters of telecom-photons, the most efficient single-photon sources still work at shorter wavelengths. On that matter, quantum frequency down-conversion, being a nonlinear optical process, has been used in recent years to alter the wavelength of single photons to the telecom wavelength range while conserving their nonclassical properties. Characteristics such as lifetime, first-order coherence, anti-bunching and entanglement have been shown to be conserved or even improved due to background suppression during the conversion process, while the conservation of indistinguishability was yet to be shown. Here we present our experimental results on quantum frequency down-conversion of single photons emitted by an InAs/GaAs quantum dot at 903.6 nm following a pulsed excitation of a p-shell exciton at 884 nm. The emitted fluorescence photons are mixed with a strong pump-field at 2155 nm inside a periodically poled lithium niobate ridge waveguide and converted to 1557 nm. Common issues of a large background due to Raman-scattered pump-light photons spectrally overlapping with the converted single photons could largely be avoided, as the pump-wavelength was chosen to be fairly longer than the target wavelength. Additional narrowband spectral filtering at the telecom regime as a result of the small conversion bandwidth and using a high-performance fiber-Bragg-grating solely left the detector dark counts as the only noise source in our setup. Therefore, we could achieve conversion efficiencies of more than 20 %. In order to test the indistinguishability, sequentially emitted photons were fed into a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and spatially as well as temporally overlapped at the output beam splitter. Cross-correlation measurements between both output-ports of the beam splitter exhibit two-photon interference contrasts of more than 40 % prior to and after the down-conversion step. Accordingly, we demonstrate that the process of quantum frequency conversion preserves photon indistinguishability and can be used to establish a versatile source of indistinguishable single photons at the telecom C-Band. Furthermore our scheme allows for converting photons in a wavelength band from 900 nm to 910 nm to the same telecom target wavelength. This enables us to test indistinguishability of frequency-converted photons, originally stemming from different sources with dinstinguishable wavelengths.