Abstract
Single semiconductor quantum dots have been extensively used to demonstrate the deterministic emission of high purity single photons. The single photon emission performance of these nanostructures has become very well controlled, offering high levels of photon indistinguishability and brightness. Ultimately, quantum technologies will require the development of a set of devices to manipulate and control the state of the photons. Here we measure and simulate a novel all-optical route to switch the single photon stream emitted from the excitonic transition in a single semiconductor quantum dot. A dual non-resonant excitation pumping scheme is used to engineer a switching device operated with GHz speeds, high differential contrasts, ultra-low power consumption and high single photon purity. Our device scheme can be replicated in many different zero dimensional semiconductors, providing a novel route towards developing a platform-independent on-chip design for high speed and low power consumption quantum devices.
Highlights
Single semiconductor quantum dots have been extensively used to demonstrate the deterministic emission of high purity single photons
All-optical logic operation with semiconductor quantum dots (SQDs) has been realized in quantum electrodynamics platforms, producing high-fidelity quantum controlled-NOT gates[18,19,20], single or few photon switchers[21,22] and all-photonic quantum repeaters[23]
The physical mechanism of the switching is based on the carrier refilling process in a single SQD when the nanostructure is optically pumped in non-resonant dual-excitation conditions: a continuous wave laser acts as the switcher input and a pulsed laser acts as the switcher control
Summary
Single semiconductor quantum dots have been extensively used to demonstrate the deterministic emission of high purity single photons. There are many physical systems working as possible atomic and nanoscale all-optical logic devices, including trapped ions[4], single atoms[5], non-linear materials[6,7,8], single molecules[9], nitrogen vacancy centres in diamond[10], plasmonics devices[11] or exciton polaritons[12,13,14], among others Due to their exceptionally high single-photon purity and indistinguishability[15,16], solutions where single semiconductor quantum dots (SQDs) act as the active material in the device deserve much of the attention[17]. In this article we report the measurement and modelling of a new switching scheme to engineer a fast optical multiple state selector controlled by alloptical means and built on a simple and easy-to-replicate architecture The development of such fast, low power, all-optical devices will aid the progress of near-future quantum photonic technologies[2,28,29]
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