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Ultrafast all-optical switching by single photons

Nature Photonics volume 6, pages 605–609 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

An as yet outstanding goal in quantum optics is the realization of fast optical nonlinearities at the single-photon level. This would allow for the implementation of optical devices with new functionalities such as single-photon switches/transistors1,2 or controlled-phase gates3. Although nonlinear optics effects at the single-emitter level have been demonstrated in a number of systems4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13, none of these experiments showed single-photon switching on ultrafast timescales. Here, we perform pulsed two-colour spectroscopy and demonstrate that, in a strongly coupled quantum dot–cavity system, the presence of a single photon on one of the fundamental polariton transitions can turn on light scattering on a transition from the first to the second Jaynes–Cummings manifold. The overall switching time of this single-photon all-optical switch14 is ∼50 ps. In addition, we use the single-photon nonlinearity to implement a pulse correlator. Our quantum dot–cavity system could form the building block of future high-bandwidth photonic networks operating in the quantum regime15,16,17,18.

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Figure 1: A single-photon all-optical switch.
Figure 2: Two-colour spectroscopy of the strongly coupled QD–cavity device.
Figure 3: Ultrafast nonlinear response.
Figure 4: Pulse correlator.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Centre of Competence in Research, Quantum Photonics (NCCR QP), a research instrument of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), and a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Investigator Grant (A.I.). The authors thank J. M. Sanchez and U. Grob for assistance in the laboratory.

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  1. Thomas Volz and Andreas Reinhard: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Quantum Electronics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, 8093, Switzerland

    Thomas Volz, Andreas Reinhard, Martin Winger, Kevin J. Hennessy & Ataç Imamoğlu

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, 14627, New York, USA

    Antonio Badolato

  3. School of Engineering and Applied Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    Evelyn L. Hu

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  1. Thomas Volz
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Contributions

T.V. and A.R. conducted the experiments, analysed the data and performed the simulations. M.W. made essential contributions to the experiment in its early stages. A.B., K.J.H. and E.L.H. fabricated the structure that ensures maximal dot cavity coupling. T.V., A.R. and A.I. conceived the experiment, discussed the results and wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Thomas Volz or Ataç Imamoğlu.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Volz, T., Reinhard, A., Winger, M. et al. Ultrafast all-optical switching by single photons. Nature Photon 6, 605–609 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2012.181

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