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Selective carrier injection into patterned arrays of pyramidal quantum dots for entangled photon light-emitting diodes

Nature Photonics volume 10, pages 782–787 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Scalability and foundry compatibility (as apply to conventional silicon-based integrated computer processors, for example) in developing quantum technologies are major challenges facing current research. Here we introduce a quantum photonic technology that has the potential to enable the large-scale fabrication of semiconductor-based, site-controlled, scalable arrays of electrically driven sources of polarization-entangled photons that may be able to encode quantum information. The design of the sources is based on quantum dots grown in micrometre-sized pyramidal recesses along the crystallographic direction (111)B, which theoretically ensures high symmetry of the quantum dots—a requirement for bright entangled-photon emission. A selective electric injection scheme in these non-planar structures allows a high density of light-emitting diodes to be obtained, with some producing entangled photon pairs that also violate Bell's inequality. Compatibility with semiconductor fabrication technology, good reproducibility and lithographic position control make these devices attractive candidates for integrated photonic circuits for quantum information processing.

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Figure 1: The internal structure of a device and the schematics of a μLED.
Figure 2: Selective injection scheme and its realization.
Figure 3: Electroluminescence of μLEDs.
Figure 4: Measurements of two-photon polarization state entanglement.

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Acknowledgements

This research was enabled by the Irish Higher Education Authority Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (2007–2011) via the INSPIRE (Integrated NanoScience Platform for Ireland) programme, and by Science Foundation Ireland under grants 10/IN.1/I3000 and 07/SRC/I1173. The authors are grateful to K. Thomas for the MOVPE system support.

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  1. T. H. Chung and G. Juska: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Lee Maltings, Cork, Ireland

    T. H. Chung, G. Juska, S. T. Moroni, A. Pescaglini, A. Gocalinska & E. Pelucchi

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  1. T. H. Chung
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  2. G. Juska
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Contributions

T.H.C. fabricated the devices. G.J. and S.T.M. carried out optical characterization, data processing and analysis. A.P. undertook the theoretical calculations. A.G. grew the samples and operated the MOVPE system. E.P. conceived the study and participated in its design and coordination. All authors commented on the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to G. Juska.

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Chung, T., Juska, G., Moroni, S. et al. Selective carrier injection into patterned arrays of pyramidal quantum dots for entangled photon light-emitting diodes. Nature Photon 10, 782–787 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2016.203

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