Letter abstract
Nature Photonics 1, 704 - 708 (2007)
Published online: 18 November 2007 | doi:10.1038/nphoton.2007.227
Subject Categories: Lasers, LEDs and light sources | Quantum optics
High-frequency single-photon source with polarization control
Stefan Strauf1,2, Nick G. Stoltz3, Matthew T. Rakher1, Larry A. Coldren3,4, Pierre M. Petroff3,4 & Dirk Bouwmeester1,5
Abstract
Optoelectronic devices that provide non-classical light states on demand have a broad range of applications in quantum information science1, including quantum-key-distribution systems2, quantum lithography3 and quantum computing4. Single-photon sources5, 6 in particular have been demonstrated to outperform key distribution based on attenuated classical laser pulses7. Implementations based on individual molecules8, nitrogen vacancy centres9 or dopant atoms10 are rather inefficient owing to low emission rates, rapid saturation and the lack of mature cavity technology. Promising single-photon-source designs combine high-quality microcavities11 with quantum dots as active emitters12. So far, the highest measured single-photon rates are 
200 kHz using etched micropillars13, 14. Here, we demonstrate a quantum-dot-based single-photon source with a measured single-photon emission rate of 4.0 MHz (31 MHz into the first lens, with an extraction efficiency of 38%) due to the suppression of exciton dark states. Furthermore, our microcavity design provides mechanical stability, and voltage-controlled tuning of the emitter/mode resonance and of the polarization state.
- Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
- Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, USA
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
- ECE Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
- Huygens Laboratory, Leiden University, PO Box 9504, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
Correspondence to: Stefan Strauf1,2 e-mail: strauf@stevens.edu
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