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Quantum-dot single-photon sources for the quantum internet

Nature Nanotechnology volume 16, pages 1294–1296 (2021)Cite this article

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High-performance quantum light sources based on semiconductor quantum dots coupled to microcavities are showing their promise in long-distance solid-state quantum networks.

Photons, the fast-flying qubits, are most suitable for transferring information over long distance. An important element for the quantum internet is the quantum light sources. The Bennett–Brassard 1984 quantum key distribution protocol2 requires an ideal single-photon source that emits one and only one photon each time. To obtain a high secret key rate after long-distance transmission, it is desirable that single-photon sources have high efficiency, high repetition rate, and operate at telecommunication wavelength. More advanced quantum networking tasks, such as quantum teleportation and entanglement swapping9, further require the independent photons to be Fourier-transform-limited to allow quantum interference.

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Fig. 1: An envisioned quantum internet with semiconductor quantum dots (QDs).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China

    Chao-Yang Lu & Jian-Wei Pan

  2. CAS Centre for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Shanghai, China

    Chao-Yang Lu & Jian-Wei Pan

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  1. Chao-Yang Lu
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  2. Jian-Wei Pan
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Correspondence to Chao-Yang Lu or Jian-Wei Pan.

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Lu, CY., Pan, JW. Quantum-dot single-photon sources for the quantum internet. Nat. Nanotechnol. 16, 1294–1296 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-021-01033-9

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