Chapter 4 - Generation of single photons using semiconductor quantum dots

Abstract

Applications in optical quantum information technology require the development of a new type of light source for which exactly one photon is emitted periodically. This chapter reviews recent progress in using semiconductor quantum dots as the active medium for generating both single photons, as well as photon pairs. Anti-bunching and single photon emission is observed for both optical and electrical injection of the recombining electrons and holes into the dots. A central aim of quantum optics is the generation of light fields with suppressed photon number fluctuations. Ideally, such a source would emit an exact number of photons at regularly spaced time intervals. This is useful for making optical measurements with a noise level below the shot noise limit, or for new applications in quantum information technology, such as quantum communications or photonic quantum computing.