Mete Atatüre

Quantum nature of a strongly coupled single quantum dot–cavity system

Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) studies the interaction between a quantum emitter and a single radiation-field mode. When an atom is strongly coupled to a cavity mode, it is possible to realize important quantum information processing tasks, such as controlled coherent coupling and entanglement of distinguishable quantum systems. Realizing these tasks in the solid state is clearly desirable, and coupling semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots to monolithic optical cavities is a promising route to this end. However, validating the efficacy of quantum dots in quantum information applications requires confirmation of the quantum nature of the quantum-dot–cavity system in the strong-coupling regime. Here we find such confirmation by observing quantum correlations in photoluminescence from a photonic crystal nanocavity interacting with one, and only one, quantum dot located precisely at the cavity electric field maximum. When off-resonance, photon emission from the cavity mode and quantum-dot excitons is anticorrelated at the level of single quanta, proving that the mode is driven solely by the quantum dot despite an energy mismatch between cavity and excitons. When tuned to resonance, the exciton and cavity enter the strong-coupling regime of cavity QED and the quantum-dot exciton lifetime reduces by a factor of 145. The generated photon stream becomes antibunched, proving that the strongly coupled exciton/photon system is in the quantum regime. Our observations unequivocally show that quantum information tasks are achievable in solid-state cavity QED.

High Photoluminescence Efficiency and Optically Pumped Lasing in Solution-Processed Mixed Halide Perovskite Semiconductors

The study of the photophysical properties of organic-metallic lead halide perovskites, which demonstrate excellent photovoltaic performance in devices with electron- and hole-accepting layers, helps to understand their charge photogeneration and recombination mechanism and unravels their potential for other optoelectronic applications. We report surprisingly high photoluminescence (PL) quantum efficiencies, up to 70%, in these solution-processed crystalline films. We find that photoexcitation in the pristine CH3NH3PbI3-xClx perovskite results in free charge carrier formation within 1 ps and that these free charge carriers undergo bimolecular recombination on time scales of 10s to 100s of ns. To exemplify the high luminescence yield of the CH3NH3PbI3-xClx perovskite, we construct and demonstrate the operation of an optically pumped vertical cavity laser comprising a layer of perovskite between a dielectric mirror and evaporated gold top mirrors. These long carrier lifetimes together with exceptionally high luminescence yield are unprecedented in such simply prepared inorganic semiconductors, and we note that these properties are ideally suited for photovoltaic diode operation.

Tuning photonic crystal nanocavity modes by wet chemical digital etching

We have developed a wet chemical digital etching technique for tuning the resonant wavelengths of photonic crystal (PC) nanocavities over a wide range of 80nm in precise 2–3nm steps while preserving high cavity quality factors. In one tuning step, a few monolayers of material are removed from the cavity surface by etching a self-formed native oxide in 1mol citric acid. Due to the self-limiting oxide thickness, total tuning range is based only on the number of etch steps, resulting in a highly controlled, digital tuning ability. We have characterized the tuning behavior of GaAs PC defect cavities of both square and triangular lattice symmetry and proven the effectiveness of this method by tuning a mode into resonance with the charged exciton, and then later the biexciton, transition of a single InAs∕GaAs self-assembled quantum dot.

Subnatural linewidth single photons from a quantum dot.

The observation of quantum-dot resonance fluorescence enabled a new solid-state approach to generating single photons with a bandwidth approaching the natural linewidth of a quantum-dot transition. Here, we operate in the small Rabi frequency limit of resonance fluorescence--the Heitler regime--to generate subnatural linewidth and high-coherence quantum light from a single quantum dot. The measured single-photon coherence is 30 times longer than the lifetime of the quantum-dot transition, and the single photons exhibit a linewidth which is inherited from the excitation laser. In contrast, intensity-correlation measurements reveal that this photon source maintains a high degree of antibunching behavior on the order of the transition lifetime with vanishing two-photon scattering probability. Generating decoherence-free phase-locked single photons from multiple quantum systems will be feasible with our approach.

Observation of Faraday rotation from a single confined spin

The ability to read out the state of a single confined spin lies at the heart of solid-state quantum-information processing1. Although spin measurements using Faraday rotation of light polarization have been implemented in semiconductor spin ensembles2,3,4, single-spin read-out has only been achieved using transport measurements5,6. Here, we demonstrate an all-optical dispersive measurement of the time-averaged spin state of a single electron in a quantum dot. We obtain information on the spin state through conditional Faraday rotation of a spectrally detuned laser, induced by the polarization- and spin-selective trion (charged quantum dot) transitions. To assess the sensitivity of the technique, we use an independent resonant laser for spin-state preparation7. We infer that there are ∼10 spin-flip Raman scattering events (that is, back-action) within our measurement timescale. Straightforward improvements such as incorporating solid-immersion lenses8,9 and higher efficiency detectors should allow for back-action-evading spin measurements, without the need for a cavity.

Optical signatures of silicon-vacancy spins in diamond

Colour centres in diamond have emerged as versatile tools for solid-state quantum technologies ranging from quantum information to metrology, where the nitrogen-vacancy centre is the most studied to date. Recently, this toolbox has expanded to include novel colour centres to realize more efficient spin-photon quantum interfaces. Of these, the silicon-vacancy centre stands out with highly desirable photonic properties. The challenge for utilizing this centre is to realize the hitherto elusive optical access to its electronic spin. Here we report spin-tagged resonance fluorescence from the negatively charged silicon-vacancy centre. Our measurements reveal a spin-state purity approaching unity in the excited state, highlighting the potential of the centre as an efficient spin-photon quantum interface.

Conditional Dynamics of Interacting Quantum Dots

Conditional quantum dynamics, where the quantum state of one system controls the outcome of measurements on another quantum system, is at the heart of quantum information processing. We demonstrate conditional dynamics for two coupled quantum dots, whereby the probability that one quantum dot makes a transition to an optically excited state is controlled by the presence or absence of an optical excitation in the neighboring dot. Interaction between the dots is mediated by the tunnel coupling between optically excited states and can be optically gated by applying a laser field of the right frequency. Our results represent substantial progress toward realization of an optically effected controlled–phase gate between two solid-state qubits.

Atomically thin quantum light-emitting diodes

Transition metal dichalcogenides are optically active, layered materials promising for fast optoelectronics and on-chip photonics. We demonstrate electrically driven single-photon emission from localized sites in tungsten diselenide and tungsten disulphide. To achieve this, we fabricate a light-emitting diode structure comprising single-layer graphene, thin hexagonal boron nitride and transition metal dichalcogenide mono- and bi-layers. Photon correlation measurements are used to confirm the single-photon nature of the spectrally sharp emission. These results present the transition metal dichalcogenide family as a platform for hybrid, broadband, atomically precise quantum photonics devices.

Observation of spin-dependent quantum jumps via quantum dot resonance fluorescence

Reliable preparation, manipulation and measurement protocols are necessary to exploit a physical system as a quantum bit. Spins in optically active quantum dots offer one potential realization and recent demonstrations have shown high-fidelity preparation and ultrafast coherent manipulation. The final challenge—that is, single-shot measurement of the electron spin—has proved to be the most difficult of the three and so far only time-averaged optical measurements have been reported. The main obstacle to optical spin readout in single quantum dots is that the same laser that probes the spin state also flips the spin being measured. Here, by using a gate-controlled quantum dot molecule, we present the ability to measure the spin state of a single electron in real time via the intermittency of quantum dot resonance fluorescence. The quantum dot molecule, unlike its single quantum dot counterpart, allows separate and independent optical transitions for state preparation, manipulation and measurement, avoiding the dilemma of relying on the same transition to address the spin state of an electron.

Spin-resolved quantum-dot resonance fluorescence

Nature Physics 5, 198–202 (2009); published online: 25 January 2009; corrected after print: 1 December 2009. The authors wish to point out that in all versions of this Letter originally published, the pure spontaneous emission rate of 356 (±11) MHz quoted on pages 198 and 199 is overestimated by a factor or four owing to an instrumentation-setting error, and erroneously quoted in units of angular frequency.