We demonstrate the coupling of PbS quantum dot emission to photonic crystal cavities at room temperature. The cavities are defined in 33% Al, AlGaAs membranes on top of oxidized AlAs. Quantum dots were dissolved in Poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) and spun on top of the cavities. Quantum dot emission is shown to map out the structure resonances, and may prove to be viable sources for room temperature cavity coupled single photon generation for quantum information processing applications. These results also indicate that such commercially available quantum dots can be used for passive structure characterization. The deposition technique is versatile and allows layers with different dot densities and emission wavelengths to be re-deposited on the same chip.
PbS quantum dots are promising active emitters for use with high-quality Si nanophotonic devices in the telecommunications-band. Measurements of low quantum dot densities are limited both because of low fluorescence levels and the challenges of single photon detection at these wavelengths. Here, we report on methods using a fiber taper waveguide to efficiently extract PbS quantum dot photoluminescence. Temperature dependent ensemble measurements reveal an increase in emitted photons concomitant with an increase in excited-state lifetime from 58.9 ns at 293 K to 657 ns at 40 K. Measurements are…
We use an optical fiber taper waveguide to probe PbS quantum dots (QDs) dried on Si photonic crystal cavities near 1.55 $μ$m. We demonstrate that a low density ($\lesssim 100 μ$m$^{-2}$) of QDs does not significantly degrade cavity quality factors as high as $\approx3\times10^4$. We also show that the tapered fiber can be used to excite the QDs and collect the subsequent cavity-filtered photoluminescence, and present measurements of reversible photodarkening and QD saturation. This method represents an important step towards spectroscopy of single colloidal QDs in the telecommunications band.
We report on enhanced fluorescence of lead sulfide quantum dots interacting with leaky modes of slab-type silicon photonic crystals. The photonic crystal slabs were fabricated supporting leaky modes in the near infrared wavelength range. Lead sulfite quantum dots which are resonant the same spectral range were prepared in a thin layer above the slab. We selectively excited the leaky modes by tuning wavelength and angle of incidence of the laser source and measured distinct resonances of enhanced fluorescence. By an appropriate experiment design, we ruled out directional light extraction effect…
Materials with optical gain in the infrared are of paramount importance for optical communications, medical diagnostics and silicon photonics. The current technology is based either on costly III-V semiconductors that are not monolithic to silicon CMOS technology or Er-doped fiber technology that does not make use of the full fiber transparency window. Colloidal quantum dots (CQD) offer a unique opportunity as an optical gain medium in view of their tunable bandgap, solution processability and CMOS compatibility. The 8-fold degeneracy of infrared CQDs based on Pb-chalcogenides has hindered the…
Systems of photonic crystal cavities coupled to quantum dots are a promising architecture for quantum networking and quantum simulators. The ability to independently tune the frequencies of laterally separated quantum dots is a crucial component of such a scheme. Here, we demonstrate independent tuning of laterally separated quantum dots in photonic crystal cavities coupled by in-plane waveguides by implanting lines of protons which serve to electrically isolate different sections of a diode structure.
We demonstrate room temperature visible wavelength photoluminescence from In0.5Ga0.5As quantum dots embedded in a GaP membrane. Time-resolved above band photoluminescence measurements of quantum dot emission show a biexpontential decay with lifetimes of ~200 ps. We fabricate photonic crystal cavities which provide enhanced outcoupling of quantum dot emission, allowing the observation of narrow lines indicative of single quantum dot emission. This materials system is compatible with monolithic integration on Si, and is promising for high efficiency detection of single quantum dot emission as we…
We report on the control of the spontaneous emission dynamics from InAsP self-assembled quantum dots emitting in the telecommunications C-band and weakly coupled to the mode of a double heterostructure cavity etched on a suspended InP membrane at room temperature. The quality factor of the cavity mode is 44x10^3 with an ultra-low modal volume of the order of 1.2 lambda/n)^3, inducing an enhancement of the spontaneous emission rate of up a factor of 2.8 at 300 K.
Engineering an array of precisely located cavity-coupled active media poses a major experimental challenge in the field of hybrid integrated photonics. We deterministically position solution processed colloidal quantum dots (QDs) on high quality-factor silicon nitride nanobeam cavities and demonstrate light-matter coupling. By lithographically defining a window on top of an encapsulated cavity that is cladded in a polymer resist, and spin coating QD solution, we can precisely control the placement of the QDs, which subsequently couple to the cavity. We show that the number of QDs coupled to th…
We report on the radiative interaction of two single quantum dots (QDs) each in a separate InP/GaInP-based microdisk cavity via resonant whispering gallery modes. The investigations are based on ab initio coupled disk modes. We apply optical spectroscopy involving a $4f$-setup, as well as mode-selective real space imaging and photoluminescence mapping to discern single QDs coupled to a resonant microdisk mode. Excitation of one disk of the double cavity structure and detecting photoluminescene from the other yields proof of single photon emission of a QD excited by incoherent energy transfer f…
Switching of a single photon interacting with two Λ-type three-level quantum dots embedded in cavities coupled to one-dimensional waveguide is investigated theoretically via the real-space approach. We demonstrated that switching of a single photon can be achieved by tuning the classic driving field on or off, and by controlling the QD-cavity coupling strength, Rabi frequency and the cavity-waveguide coupling rate. The transmission properties of a single photon by such a nanosystem discussed here could find the applications in the design of next-generation quantum devices and quantum informati…
Semiconductor quantum dots embedded in photonic-crystal nanostructures have been the subject of intense study. In this context, quantum dots are often considered to be simple two-level emitters, i.e., the complexities arising from the internal finestructure are neglected. We show that due to the intricate spatial variations of the electric field polarization found in photonic crystal, the two orthogonal finestructure states of quantum dots in general both couple significantly to a cavity mode, implying that the two-level description is not sufficient. As a consequence the emission dynamics and…
The coupling of CdTe/ZnTe quantum dot (QD) emission to micropillar cavity eigenmodes in the weak coupling regime is demonstrated. We analyze photoluminescence spectra of QDs embedded in monolithic micropillar cavities based on Bragg mirrors which contain MgSe/ZnTe/MgTe superlattices as low-index material. The pillar emission shows pronounced cavity eigenmodes and their spectral shape is in good agreement with simulations. QD emission in resonance with the cavity mode is shown to be efficiently guided toward the detector and an experimental Purcell enhancement by a factor of 5.7 is determined, …
Fabrication and characterization of shape- and topology-optimized optical cavities with deep sub-wavelength confinement for interfacing with colloidal quantum dots
We demonstrate the remote all-optical control of the spontaneous emission (SE) of quantum dots using coupled photonic crystal cavities. By spectrally tuning a Fabry-Perot cavity in resonance with a target cavity, the quality factor and the local density of states experienced by emitters in the target cavity are modified, leading to a change in the SE rate. From the theoretical analysis of the coupled-cavity quantum electrodynamics system, the SE rate change can be higher than the quality factor change due to a reduction of the vacuum field at the emitter's position when the two cavities are br…
A bulk left-handed metamaterial with fishnet structure is investigated to show the optical loss compensation via surface plasmon amplification, with the assistance of a Gaussian gain in PbS quantum dots. The optical resonance enhancement around 200 THz is confirmed by the retrieval method. By exploring the dependence of propagation loss on the gain coefficient and metamaterial thickness, we verify numerically that the left-handed response can endure a large propagation thickness with ultralow and stable loss under a certain gain coefficient.
Optical characterization of AlGaAs microdisk resonant cavities with a quantum dot active region is presented. Direct passive measurement of the optical loss within AlGaAs microdisk resonant structures embedded with InAs/InGaAs dots-in-a-well (DWELL) is performed using an optical-fiber-based probing technique at a wavelength (lambda~1400 nm) that is red-detuned from the dot emission wavelength (lambda~1200 nm). Measurements in the 1400 nm wavelength band on microdisks of diameter D = 4.5 microns show that these structures support modes with cold-cavity quality factors as high as 360,000. DWELL-…
Numerical Analysis of Photon Absorption of Gate-defined Quantum Dots Embedded in Asymmetric Bull's-eye Optical Cavities
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo（东京大学工业科学研究所）；Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo（东京大学先进科学技术研究中心）
We demonstrate fast (up to 20 GHz), low power (5 $μW$) modulation of photonic crystal (PC) cavities in GaAs containing InAs quantum dots. Rapid modulation through blue-shifting of the cavity resonance is achieved via free carrier injection by an above-band picosecond laser pulse. Slow tuning by several linewidths due to laser-induced heating is also demonstrated.
Low threshold lasers realized within compact, high quality optical cavities enable a variety of nanophotonics applications. Gallium nitride (GaN) materials containing indium gallium nitride (InGaN) quantum dots and quantum wells offer an outstanding platform to study light matter interactions and realize practical devices such as efficient light emitting diodes and nanolasers. Despite progress in the growth and characterization of InGaN quantum dots, their advantages as the gain medium in low threshold lasers have not been clearly demonstrated. This work seeks to better understand the reasons …
This chapter will primarily focus on the studies of quantum optics with semiconductor, epitaxially grown quantum dots embedded in photonic crystal cavities. We will start by giving brief introductions into photonic crystals and quantum dots, then proceed with the introduction to cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) effects, with a particular emphasis on the demonstration of these effects on the quantum dot-photonic crystal platform. Finally, we will focus on the applications of such cavity QED effects.
Spontaneous emission (SE) rate of any light emitters directly scales with the locally available modes for photons. The emission rate can be modified, by changing the dielectric environment of light emitters. Generally cavities with modes in resonance to light emission frequency, are used to amplify the light emission rate. The Fermi golden rule predicts that if the cavity modes are offresonant to the emission frequency, then the SE rate is suppressed. In this study, we demonstrate that the SE of colloidal alloyed quantum dots is inhibited by coupling them to chemically synthesized Silver nanow…
Colloidal quantum dots have garnered active research interest as quantum emitters due to their robust synthesis process and straightforward integration with nanophotonic platforms. However, obtaining indistinguishable photons from the colloidal quantum dots at room temperature is fundamentally challenging because they suffer from an extremely large dephasing rate. Here we propose an experimentally feasible method of obtaining indistinguishable single photons from an incoherently pumped solution-processed colloidal quantum dot coupled to a system of nanocavities. We show that by coupling a coll…
The excitonic fine structure plays a key role for the quantum light generated by semiconductor quantum dots, both for entangled photon pairs and single photons. Controlling the excitonic fine structure has been demonstrated using electric, magnetic, or strain fields, but not for quantum dots in optical cavities, a key requirement to obtain high source efficiency and near-unity photon indistinguishability. Here, we demonstrate the control of the fine structure splitting for quantum dots embedded in micropillar cavities. We propose a scheme based on remote electrical contacts connected to the pi…
Plasmonic cavities can confine electromagnetic radiation to deep sub-wavelength regimes. This facilitates strong coupling phenomena to be observed at the limit of individual quantum emitters. Here we report an extensive set of measurements of plasmonic cavities hosting one to a few semiconductor quantum dots. Scattering spectra show Rabi splitting, demonstrating that these devices are close to the strong coupling regime. Using Hanbury Brown and Twiss interferometry, we observe non-classical emission, allowing us to directly determine the number of emitters in each device. Surprising features i…
We report optical positioning single quantum dots (QDs) in planar cavity with an average position uncertainty $<$20 nm using an optimized two-color photoluminescence imaging technique. We create single-photon sources based on these QDs in determined micropillar cavities. The brightness of the QD fluorescence is greatly enhanced on resonance with the fundamental mode of the cavity, leading to an high extraction efficiency of 68%$\pm$6% into a lens with numerical aperture of 0.65, and simultaneously exhibiting low multi-photon probability ($g^{2}(0)$=0.144$\pm$0.012) at this collection efficienc…
Optical nanostructures have proven to be meritorious for tailoring the emission properties of quantum emitters. However, unavoidable fabrication imperfections may represent a nuisance. Quite remarkably, disorder offers new opportunities since light can be efficiently confined by random multiple scattering leading to Anderson localization. Here we investigate the effect of such disorder-induced cavities on the emission dynamics of single quantum dots embedded in disordered photonic-crystal waveguides. We present time-resolved measurements of both the total emission from Anderson-localized cavit…
One way for solar cell efficiencies to overcome the Shockley-Queisser limit is downconversion of high-energy photons using singlet fission (SF) in polyacenes like tetracene (Tc). SF enables generation of multiple excitons from the high-energy photons which can be harvested in combination with Si. In this work we investigate the use of lead sulfide quantum dots (PbS QDs) with a band gap close to Si as an interlayer that allows Foerster Resonant Energy Transfer (FRET) from Tc to Si, a process that would be spin-forbidden without the intermediate QD step. We investigate how the conventional FRET …
We report the control of spontaneous emission from CdSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dots coupled to novel open-access optical microcavities. The cavities are fabricated by focused ion beam milling, and provide mode volumes less than a cubic micrometre. The quantum dot emission spectrum, spatial modes, and lifetime are all modified substantially by the presence of the cavity, and can be tuned by actively varying the cavity length. An increase in emission rate of 75% is achieved at room temperature, attributed to the Purcell effect in the 'bad emitter' regime. We demonstrate a high degree of control …
We study the angle-resolved spontaneous emission of near-infrared light sources in 3D photonic crystals over a wavelength range from 1200 to 1550 nm. To this end PbSe quantum dots are used as light sources inside titania inverse opal photonic crystals. Strong deviations from the Lambertian emission profile are observed. An attenuation of 60 % is observed in the angle dependent radiant flux emitted from the samples due to photonic stop bands. At angles that correspond to the edges of the stop band the emitted flux is increased by up to 34 %. This increase is explained by the redistribution of B…
We propose a driven optical cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) set up aimed at directly probing energy transport dynamics in photosynthetic biomolecules. We show that detailed information concerning energy transfer paths and delocalization of exciton states can be inferred (and exciton energies estimated) from the statistical properties of the emitted photons. This approach provides us with a novel spectroscopic tool for the interrogation of biological systems in terms of quantum optical phenomena which have been usually studied for atomic or solid-state systems, e.g. trapped atoms and semic…
We present results on electrically driven nanobeam photonic crystal cavities formed out of a lateral p-i-n junction in gallium arsenide. Despite their small conducting dimensions, nanobeams have robust electrical properties with high current densities possible at low drive powers. Much like their two-dimensional counterparts, the nanobeam cavities exhibit bright electroluminescence at room temperature from embedded 1,250 nm InAs quantum dots. A small room temperature differential gain is observed in the cavities with minor beam self-heating suggesting that lasing is possible. These results ope…
Quantum simulation is a promising approach to understand complex strongly correlated many-body systems using relatively simple and tractable systems. Photon-based quantum simulators have great advantages due to the possibility of direct measurements of multi-particle correlations and ease of simulating non-equilibrium physics. However, interparticle interaction in existing photonic systems is often too weak limiting the potential of quantum simulation. Here we propose an approach to enhance the interparticle interaction using exciton-polaritons in MoS$_2$ monolayer quantum-dots embedded in 2D …
The strong interaction of individual quantum emitters with resonant cavities is of fundamental interest for understanding light matter interactions. Plasmonic cavities hold the promise of attaining the strong coupling regime even under ambient conditions and within subdiffraction volumes. Recent experiments revealed strong coupling between individual plasmonic structures and multiple organic molecules, but so far strong coupling at the limit of a single quantum emitter has not been reported. Here we demonstrate vacuum Rabi splitting, a manifestation of strong coupling, using silver bowtie plas…
The spectra of two-dimensional photonic crystal slab nanocavities with embedded InAs quantum dots are measured by photoluminescence and reflectance. In comparing the spectra taken by these two different methods, consistency with the nanocavities' resonant wavelengths is found. Furthermore, it is shown that the reflectance method can measure both active and passive cavities. Q-factors of nanocavities, whose resonant wavelengths range from 1280 to 1620 nm, are measured by the reflectance method in cross polarization. Experimentally, Q-factors decrease for longer wavelengths and the intensity, re…
The quality factor (Q), mode volume (Veff), and room-temperature lasing threshold of microdisk cavities with embedded quantum dots (QDs) are investigated. Finite element method simulations of standing wave modes within the microdisk reveal that Veff can be as small as 2(lambda/n)^3 while maintaining radiation-limited Qs in excess of 10^5. Microdisks of diameter D=2 microns are fabricated in an AlGaAs material containing a single layer of InAs QDs with peak emission at lambda = 1317 nm. For devices with Veff ~2 (lambda/n)^3, Qs as high as 1.2 x 10^5 are measured passively in the 1.4 micron band…
Strong light-matter interaction and high-efficiency optical collection of fluorescence from quantum emitters are crucial topics in quantum and nanophotonic fields. High-quality cavities, dispersive photonic crystal waveguides and even plasmonic structures have been used to enhance the interaction with quantum emitters, thus realize efficient collection of the fluorescence. In this work, a new method is proposed to collect the fluorescence of quantum dots (QDs) with a fiber-integrated multimode silver nanowire (AgNW) waveguide. Fluorescence lifetime measurement is performed to investigate the c…
We report on mapping of the local density of states in L3 photonic crystal resonators (PCR) via deterministically positioned single Ge quantum dots (QDs). Perfect site-control of Ge QDs on pre-patterned silicon-on-insulator substrates was exploited to fabricate in one processing run almost 300 L3 PCRs containing single QDs in systematically varying positions in the cavities. The alignment precision of the QD emitters was better than 20 nm. This type of parallel processing is essentially based on standard Si device technologies and is therefore scalable to any number and configuration of PCR st…
We present detuning-dependent spectral and decay-rate measurements to study the difference between spectral and dynamical properties of single quantum dots embedded in micropillar and photonic-crystal cavities. For the micropillar cavity, the dynamics is well described by the dissipative Jaynes-Cummings model, while systematic deviations are observed for the emission spectra. The discrepancy for the spectra is attributed to coupling of other exciton lines to the cavity and interference of different propagation paths towards the detector of the fields emitted by the quantum dot. In contrast, qu…
Photonic nanostructures provide means of tailoring the interaction between light and matter and the past decade has witnessed a tremendous experimental and theoretical progress in this subject. In particular, the combination with semiconductor quantum dots has proven successful. This manuscript reviews quantum optics with excitons in single quantum dots embedded in photonic nanostructures. The ability to engineer the light-matter interaction strength in integrated photonic nanostructures enables a range of fundamental quantum-electrodynamics experiments on, e.g., spontaneous-emission control, …
We present a monolithic semiconductor microcavity design for enhanced light-matter interaction and photon extraction efficiency of an embedded quantum emitter such as a quantum dot or color center. The microcavity is a hemispherical Fabry-Perot design consisting of a planar back mirror and a top curved mirror. Higher order modes are suppressed in the structure by reducing the height of the curved mirror, leading to efficient photon extraction into a fundamental mode with a Gaussian far-field radiation pattern. The cavity finesse can be varied easily by changing the reflectivity of the mirrors …
By modifying the density of optical states at the location of an emitter, weak cavity-emitter coupling can enable a host of potential applications in quantum optics, from the development of low- threshold lasers to brighter single-photon sources for quantum cryptography. Although some of the first demonstrations of spontaneous emission modification occurred in metallic structures, it was only after the recent demonstration of cavity quantum electrodynamics effects in dielectric optical cavities that metal-based optical cavities were considered for quantum optics applications. Advantages of met…
InGaN-based active layers within microcavity resonators offer the potential of low threshold lasers in the blue spectral range. Here we demonstrate optically pumped, room temperature lasing in high quality factor GaN microdisk cavities containing InGaN quantum dots (QDs) with thresholds as low as 0.28 mJ/cm2. This work, the first demonstration of lasing action from GaN microdisk cavities with QDs in the active layer, provides a critical step for the nitrides in realizing low threshold photonic devices with efficient coupling between QDs and an optical cavity.
Solid-state cavity quantum electrodynamics systems will form scalable nodes of future quantum networks, allowing the storage, processing and retrieval of quantum bits, where a real-time control of the radiative interaction in the cavity is required to achieve high efficiency. We demonstrate here the dynamic molding of the vacuum field in a coupled-cavity system to achieve the ultrafast nonlocal modulation of spontaneous emission of quantum dots in photonic crystal cavities, on a timescale of ~200 ps, much faster than their natural radiative lifetimes. This opens the way to the ultrafast contro…
The lasing behavior of one dimensional GaAs nanobeam cavities with embedded InAs quantum dots is studied at room temperature. Lasing is observed throughout the quantum dot PL spectrum, and the wavelength dependence of the threshold is calculated. We study the cavity lasers under both 780 nm and 980 nm pump, finding thresholds as low as 0.3 uW and 19 uW for the two pump wavelengths, respectively. Finally, the nanobeam cavity laser wavelengths are tuned by up to 7 nm by employing a fiber taper in near proximity to the cavities. The fiber taper is used both to efficiently pump the cavity and coll…
Photonic integration is an enabling technology for photonic quantum science, offering greater scalability, stability, and functionality than traditional bulk optics. Here, we describe a scalable, heterogeneous III-V/silicon integration platform to produce Si$_3$N$_4$ photonic circuits incorporating GaAs-based nanophotonic devices containing self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots. We demonstrate pure singlephoton emission from individual quantum dots in GaAs waveguides and cavities - where strong control of spontaneous emission rate is observed - directly launched into Si$_3$N$_4$ waveguides wit…
A system for studying microcavity resonators at cryogenic temperatures (~10 K) through evanescent coupling via optical fiber taper waveguides is reported, and efficient fiber coupling to AlGaAs microdisk cavities with embedded quantum dots is demonstrated. As an immediate application of this tool, we study high-resolution tuning of microdisk cavities through nitrogen gas adsorption, as first discussed by Mosor, et al. By proper regulation of the nitrogen gas flow and delivery of the gas to the sample surface, continuous tuning can be achieved with modest gas flows, and overall wavelength shift…
Quantum nanophotonics has become a new research frontier where quantum optics is combined with nanophotonics in order to enhance and control the interaction between strongly confined light and quantum emitters. Such progress provides a promising pathway towards quantum-information processing on an all-solid-state platform. Here we review recent progress on experiments with single quantum dots in nanophotonic structures. Embedding the quantum dots in photonic band-gap structures offers a way of controlling spontaneous emission of single photons to a degree that is determined by the local light-…
Hybrid quantum information protocols are based on local qubits, such as trapped atoms, NV centers, and quantum dots, coupled to photons. The coupling is achieved through optical cavities. Here we demonstrate far-field optimized H1 photonic crystal membrane cavities combined with an additional back reflection mirror below the membrane that meet the optical requirements for implementing hybrid quantum information protocols. Using numerical optimization we find that 80% of the light can be radiated within an objective numerical aperture of 0.8, and the coupling to a single-mode fiber can be as hi…
