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High-frequency single-photon source with polarization control

Nature Photonics volume 1, pages 704–708 (2007)Cite this article

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.

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Figure 1: SPS device design.
Figure 2: Influence of gate voltage on SPS performance.
Figure 3: Single QD characterizations.
Figure 4: Impact of QD charging on SPS performance.
Figure 5: Demonstration of polarization control.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank D. Cohen for fruitful discussions. This work was supported through DARPA, NSF and ARO grants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106, California, USA

    Stefan Strauf, Matthew T. Rakher & Dirk Bouwmeester

  2. Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, 07030, New Jersey, USA

    Stefan Strauf

  3. Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106, California, USA

    Nick G. Stoltz, Larry A. Coldren & Pierre M. Petroff

  4. ECE Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106, California, USA

    Larry A. Coldren & Pierre M. Petroff

  5. Huygens Laboratory, Leiden University, PO Box 9504, RA Leiden, 2300, The Netherlands

    Dirk Bouwmeester

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  1. Stefan Strauf
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Correspondence to Stefan Strauf.

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Supplementary information and figures S1, S2 (PDF 170 kb)

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Strauf, S., Stoltz, N., Rakher, M. et al. High-frequency single-photon source with polarization control. Nature Photon 1, 704–708 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2007.227

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