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

Nature Photonics volume 6, pages 238–242 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Emission from a resonantly excited quantum emitter is a fascinating research topic within the field of quantum optics and is a useful source for different types of quantum light fields. The resonance spectrum consists of a single spectral line that develops into a triplet above saturation of the quantum emitter1,2,3. The three closely spaced photon channels from the resonance fluorescence have different photon statistical signatures4. We present a detailed photon statistics analysis of the resonance fluorescence emission triplet from a solid-state-based artificial atom, that is, a semiconductor quantum dot. The photon correlation measurements demonstrate both ‘single’ and ‘cascaded’ photon emission from the Mollow triplet sidebands5. The bright and narrow sideband emission (5.9 × 106 photons per second into the first lens) can be conveniently frequency-tuned by laser detuning over 15 times its linewidth (Δv ≈ 1.0 GHz). These unique properties make the Mollow triplet sideband emission a valuable light source for quantum light spectroscopy and quantum information applications, for example.

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Figure 1: Laser detuning dependent Mollow triplet spectra.
Figure 2: Photon correlations on Mollow spectral components.
Figure 3: Laser detuning dependent correlation of the combined Mollow sidebands signal.
Figure 4: Cross-correlation between spectrally selected Mollow sidebands.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge D. Richter and W-M. Schulz for providing high-quality samples and M. Wiesner for help in sample processing. We also appreciate a fruitful discussion with S. Hughes. The authors acknowledge financial support from the Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft (research group 730). A.U. acknowledges funding from the International Max Planck Research School for Advanced Materials. S.W. acknowledges financial support from the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung.

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  1. Institut für Halbleiteroptik und Funktionelle Grenzflächen, Universität Stuttgart, Allmandring 3, Stuttgart, 70569, Germany

    A. Ulhaq, S. Weiler, S. M. Ulrich, R. Roßbach, M. Jetter & P. Michler

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  1. A. Ulhaq
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  2. S. Weiler
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  3. S. M. Ulrich
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  5. M. Jetter
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  6. P. Michler
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Contributions

R.R. and M.J. designed the sample structure. A.U., S.W., S.M.U. and P.M. conceived the experiments. A.U., S.W. and S.M.U. performed the experiments and analysed the data. A.U., S.W., S.M.U. and P.M. wrote the manuscript, with input from the other authors.

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Correspondence to A. Ulhaq.

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Ulhaq, A., Weiler, S., Ulrich, S. et al. Cascaded single-photon emission from the Mollow triplet sidebands of a quantum dot. Nature Photon 6, 238–242 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2012.23

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