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Coupling of quantum-dot light emission with a three-dimensional photonic-crystal nanocavity

Nature Photonics volume 2, pages 688–692 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

We report on the first demonstration of the coupling of fully confined electrons and photons using a combination of three-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavities and quantum dots. The three dimensional photonic crystals were assembled by stacking planar components using a sophisticated micromanipulation technique. Point defects, containing embedded quantum dots, were introduced into the photonic crystals as active sites. By measuring the photoluminescence spectra of the assembly, the process by which light emitted from the quantum dots is coupled to the defect modes of a three dimensional photonic crystal was demonstrated for the first time. The characteristics of the sharp emission peaks agreed well with numerical simulations, and these were confirmed to be resonant modes by polarization measurements. The highest quality factor (Q-factor) for three dimensional photonic crystals (2,300) was achieved.

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Figure 1: 3D photonic crystals.
Figure 2: PL spectra of 3D photonic crystals during fabrication.
Figure 3: Polarization properties of resonant peaks.
Figure 4: Dependence of Q-factors on photonic-crystal dimensions and defect sizes.
Figure 5

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank H.T. Miyazaki at the National Institute for Materials Science for valuable advice on the construction of the manipulation system. This work was supported by Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology and an IT program by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

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Author notes

  1. Kanna Aoki

    Present address: Present address: National Nanotechnology Laboratory, CNR/INFM, Università del Salento, 16 Via Arnesano, Lecce 73100, Italy,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro, 153-8505, Tokyo, Japan

    Kanna Aoki, Denis Guimard, Masao Nishioka, Masahiro Nomura, Satoshi Iwamoto & Yasuhiko Arakawa

  2. Institute for Nano Quantum Information Electronics, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro, 153-8505, Tokyo, Japan

    Kanna Aoki, Denis Guimard, Masahiro Nomura, Satoshi Iwamoto & Yasuhiko Arakawa

  3. Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro, 153-8904, Tokyo, Japan

    Satoshi Iwamoto & Yasuhiko Arakawa

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  1. Kanna Aoki
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Correspondence to Kanna Aoki or Yasuhiko Arakawa.

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Aoki, K., Guimard, D., Nishioka, M. et al. Coupling of quantum-dot light emission with a three-dimensional photonic-crystal nanocavity. Nature Photon 2, 688–692 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2008.202

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