Michael Jetter

Cascaded single-photon emission from the Mollow triplet sidebands of a quantum dot

Researchers demonstrate that an individual Mollow sideband channel of the resonance fluorescence from an InGaAs quantum dot can act as an efficient single-photon source. The central frequency of the bright and narrow sideband emission can be changed by laser detuning over a range spanning 15 times the emission linewidth.

Quantum key distribution using quantum dot single-photon emitting diodes in the red and near infrared spectral range

We report on in-lab free space quantum key distribution (QKD) experiments over 40cm distance using highly efficient electrically driven quantum dot single-photon sources emitting in the red as well as near-infrared spectral range. In the case of infrared emitting devices, we achieve sifted key rates of 27.2kbits 1 (35.4kbits 1 ) at a quantum bit error rate (QBER) of 3.9% (3.8%) and a g (2) (0) value of 0.35 (0.49) at moderate (high) excitation. The

Differential phase contrast 2.0—Opening new “fields” for an established technique

Differential phase contrast microscopy has become known as a high resolution imaging technique for magnetic micro-structures in the past. The method senses the local induction by measuring the deflection of the probe beam after it passes through a specimen area carrying a magnetic field. Little attention has been paid, however, to the fact that this technique is also capable of measuring electric fields. An application of the technique to measure piezoelectric polarization fields inside multi-layered structures such as quantum wells is demonstrated. For this purpose, piezoelectric fields within non-centrosymmetric crystal structures, based on GaN/InGaN/GaN quantum wells, are investigated. It can be shown that the technique is sensitive to these fields and yields detailed information about the field distribution. The specific information and experimental limitations as well as artefacts of the technique will be discussed in detail and first measurements are shown. The main advantages turn out to be high sensitivity for electric fields, combined with a very high resolution, which is limited only by the STEM probe size. Another advantage is the large achievable field of view.

Electrically pumped single-photon emission in the visible spectral range up to 80 K

We present an electrically pumped single-photon emitter in the visible spectral range, working up to 80 K, realized using a self-assembled single InP quantum dot. We confirm that the electroluminescense is emitted from a single quantum dot by performing second-order autocorrelation measurements and show that the deviation from perfect single-photon emission is entirely related to detector limitations and background signal. Emission from both neutral and charged exciton complexes was observed with their relative intensites depending on the injection current and temperature.

Near-red emission from site-controlled pyramidal InGaN quantum dots

We have fabricated InGaN nanostructures on top of GaN hexagonal pyramids by selective metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy. With this approach, we are able to exactly control the position of the emitting quantum dot, which is an essential requirement for functionalized single-photon emitters. The emission properties as well as the relaxation and recombination mechanisms were investigated using spectroscopic methods. Regions of different confinement were identified, with the photoluminescence emission from the InGaN quantum dots around 2.03eV and a decay time of 1.4ns. The constant temperature behavior of the radiative decay time confirms its zero-dimensional character. Spatially resolved cathodoluminescence measurements attribute this emission to the apex of the pyramid.

Band-gap measurements of direct and indirect semiconductors using monochromated electrons

With the development of monochromators for transmission electron microscopes, valence electron-energy-loss spectroscopy (VEELS) has become a powerful technique to study the band structure of materials with high spatial resolution. However, artifacts such as Cerenkov radiation pose a limit for interpretation of the low-loss spectra. In order to reveal the exact band-gap onset using the VEELS method, semiconductors with direct and indirect band-gap transitions have to be treated differently. For direct semiconductors, spectra acquired at thin regions can efficiently minimize the Cerenkov effects. Examples of hexagonal GaN (h-GaN) spectra acquired at different thickness showed that a correct band-gap onset value can be obtained for sample thicknesses up to 0.5 t/{lambda}. In addition, {omega}-q maps acquired at different specimen thicknesses confirm the thickness dependency of Cerenkov losses. For indirect semiconductors, the correct band-gap onset can be obtained in the dark-field mode when the required momentum transfer for indirect transition is satisfied. Dark-field VEEL spectroscopy using a star-shaped entrance aperture provides a way of removing Cerenkov effects in diffraction mode. Examples of Si spectra acquired by displacing the objective aperture revealed the exact indirect transition gap E{sub g} of 1.1 eV.

Electrically driven quantum dot single-photon source at 2 GHz excitation repetition rate with ultra-low emission time jitter

The influence of the bias voltage on emission properties of a red emitting InP/GaInP quantum dot based single-photon source was investigated. Under pulsed electrical excitation, we can influence the band bending of the p-i-n diode with the applied bias voltage and thus the charge carrier escape by quantum tunneling. This leads to control over the non-radiative decay channel and allows carrier escape times as low as 40 ps, effectively reducing the time jitter of the photon emission. We realized high excitation repetition rates of up to 2 GHz while autocorrelation measurements with g(2)(0)-values of 0.27 attest dominant single-photon emission.

Mode-locked red-emitting semiconductor disk laser with sub-250 fs pulses

We report on passive mode locking of a semiconductor disk laser emitting pulses shorter than 250 fs at 664 nm with a repetition frequency of 836 MHz. A fast saturable absorber mirror fabricated by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy in a near-resonant design was used to enable the mode locking operation. It includes two GaInP quantum wells located close to the surface and an additional fused silica coating. The emission spectrum shows the superposition of a soliton-like part and a smaller “continuum” part.

High-power InP quantum dot based semiconductor disk laser exceeding 1.3 W

We demonstrate an optically pumped semiconductor disk laser (OP-SDL) using InP quantum dots (QDs) as active material fabricated by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy. The QDs are grown within [(Al0.1Ga0.9)0.52In0.48]0.5P0.5 (abbr. Al0.1GaInP) barriers in order to achieve an emission wavelength around 655 nm. We present optical investigations of the active region showing typical QD behavior like blue shift with increasing excitation power and single emission lines, which show anti-bunching in an intensity auto-correlation measurement. We report maximum output powers of the OP-SDL of 1.39 W at low emission wavelength of ∼654 nm with a slope efficiency of ηdiff=25.4 %.

Phonon-assisted incoherent excitation of a quantum dot and its emission properties

We present a detailed study of a phonon-assisted incoherent excitation mechanism of single quantum dots. A spectrally detuned continuous-wave laser couples to a quantum dot transition by mediation of acoustic phonons, whereby excitation efficiencies up to 20