New types of light fields localized in nanometer-sized regions of space were suggested and analyzed. The possibility of using these nanolocalized fields in atom optics for atom focusing and localization is discussed.
By placing changeable nanofabricated structures (wires, dots, etc.) on an atom mirror one can design guiding and trapping potentials for atoms. These potentials are similar to the electrostatic potentials which trap and guide electrons in semiconductor quantum devices like quantum wires and quantum dots. This technique will allow the fabrication of nanoscale atom optical devices.
We determine the ground state energy of atoms and quantum dots whose number N of electrons is large. We show that the dominant terms of the energy are those given by a semiclassical Hartree-Fock theory. Correlation effects appear at the order N ln N for atoms and the order N for quantum dots. We compute them. The semiclassical Hartree-Fock theory creates oscillations in the ground state energy as a function of N . These oscillations reflect the dynamics of a classical particle moving in the presence of the Thomas-Fermi potential. The dynamics is regular for atoms and some dots, but we present …
We compute the ground state energy of atoms and quantum dots with a large number N of electrons. Both systems are described by a non-relativistic Hamiltonian of electrons in a d-dimensional space. The electrons interact via the Coulomb potential. In the case of atoms (d=3), the electrons are attracted by the nucleus, via the Coulomb potential. In the case of quantum dots (d=2), the electrons are confined by an external potential, whose shape can be varied. We show that the dominant terms of the ground state energy are those given by a semiclassical Hartree-exchange energy, whose N to infinity …
The electro-optic, acousto-optic and nonlinear properties of lithium niobate make it a highly versatile material platform for integrated quantum photonic circuits. A prerequisite for quantum technology applications is the ability to efficiently integrate single photon sources, and to guide the generated photons through ad-hoc circuits. Here we report the integration of quantum dots in monolayer WSe2 into a Ti in-diffused lithium niobate directional coupler. We investigate the coupling of individual quantum dots to the waveguide mode, their spatial overlap, and the overall efficiency of the hyb…
We present full atomistic calculations of the spin-flip time (T$_{1}$) of electrons and holes mediated by acoustic phonons in self-assembled In$_{1-x}$Ga$_x$As/GaAs quantum dots at zero magnetic field. At low magnetic field, the first-order process is suppressed, and the second-order process becomes dominant. We find that the spin-phonon-interaction induced spin relaxation time is 40 - 80 s for electrons, and 1 - 20 ms for holes at 4.2 K. The calculated hole-spin relaxation times are in good agreement with recent experiments, which suggests that the two-phonon process is the main relaxation me…
A presentation and a generalisation are given of the phenomenon of level rearrangement, which occurs when an attractive long-range potential is supplemented by a short-range attractive potential of increasing strength. This problem has been discovered in condensate-matter physics and has also been studied in the physics of exotic atoms. A similar phenomenon occurs in a situation inspired by quantum dots, where a short-range interaction is added to an harmonic confinement.
We present a model for quantum computation using n steady 3-level atoms or 3-level quantum dots, kept inside a quantum electro-dynamics (QED) cavity. Our model allows one-qubit operations and the two-qubit controlled-NOT gate as required for universal quantum computation. The n quantum bits are described by two energy levels of each atom/dot. An external laser and n separate pairs of electrodes are used to address a single atom/dot independent of the others, via Stark effect. The third level of each system and an additional common-mode qubit (a cavity photon) are used for realizing the control…
We demonstrate a compact, spectrally-selective, and tunable delay line for single photons emitted by quantum dots. This is achieved by fine-tuning the wavelength of the optical transitions of such "artificial atoms" into a spectral window in which a cloud of natural atoms behaves as slow-light medium. By employing the ground-state fine-structure-split exciton confined in an InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot as a source of single photons at different frequencies and the hyperfine-structure-split $D_1$ transition of Cs-vapors as a tunable delay-medium, we achieve a differential delay of up 2.4 ns on a 7.5…
We predict a bistability in the photon emission from a solid-state single-atom laser comprising a microwave cavity coupled to a voltage-biased double quantum dot. To demonstrate that the single-atom laser is bistable, we evaluate the photon emission statistics and show that the distribution takes the shape of a tilted ellipse. The switching rates of the bistability can be extracted from the electrical current and the shot noise in the quantum dots. This provides a means to control the photon emission statistics by modulating the electronic transport in the quantum dots. Our prediction is robus…
Semiconductor InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by the Stranski-Krastanov method are among the leading candidates for the deterministic generation of polarization entangled photon pairs. Despite remarkable progress in the last twenty years, many challenges still remain for this material, such as the extremely low yield (<1% quantum dots can emit entangled photons), the low degree of entanglement, and the large wavelength distribution. Here we show that, with an emerging family of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots grown by droplet etching and nanohole infilling, it is possible to obtain a large ensemble (clo…
High resolution coherent nonlinear optical spectroscopy of an ensemble of red-emitting InGaN quantum dots in GaN nanowires is reported. The data show a pronounced atom-like interaction between resonant laser fields and quantum dot excitons at low temperature that is difficult to observe in the linear absorption spectrum due to inhomogeneous broadening from indium fluctuation effects. We find that the nonlinear signal persists strongly at room temperature. The robust atom-like room temperature response indicates the possibility that this material could serve as the platform for proposed exciton…
Spin qubits hosted in silicon (Si) quantum dots (QD) are attractive due to their exceptionally long coherence times and compatibility with the silicon transistor platform. To achieve electrical control of spins for qubit scalability, recent experiments have utilized gradient magnetic fields from integrated micro-magnets to produce an extrinsic coupling between spin and charge, thereby electrically driving electron spin resonance (ESR). However, spins in silicon QDs experience a complex interplay between spin, charge, and valley degrees of freedom, influenced by the atomic scale details of the …
An ideal source of entangled photon pairs combines the perfect symmetry of an atom with the convenient electrical trigger of light sources based on semiconductor quantum dots. We create a naturally symmetric quantum dot cascade that emits highly entangled photon pairs on demand. Our source consists of strain-free GaAs dots self-assembled on a triangular symmetric (111)A surface. The emitted photons strongly violate Bell's inequality and reveal a fidelity to the Bell state as high as 86 (+-2) % without postselection. This result is an important step towards scalable quantum-communication applic…
We employ active feedback to stabilize the frequency of single photons emitted by two separate quantum dots to an atomic standard. The transmission of a single, rubidium-based Faraday filter serves as the error signal for frequency stabilization to less than 1.5% of the emission linewidth. Long-term stability is demonstrated by Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between photons from the two quantum dots. The observed visibility of $V_{\mathrm{lock}}=(41 \pm 5)$% is limited only by internal dephasing of the dots. Our approach facilitates quantum networks with indistinguishable photons from distributed…
Strong repelling interactions between a few fermions or bosons confined in two-dimensional circular traps lead to particle localization and formation of quantum Wigner molecules (QWMs) possessing definite point-group space symmetries. These point-group symmetries are "hidden" (or emergent), namely they cannot be traced in the circular single-particle densities (SPDs) associated with the exact many-body wave functions, but they are manifested as characteristic signatures in the ro-vibrational spectra. An example, among many, are the few-body QWM states under a high magnetic field or at fast rot…
The effect of a magnetic field on the charged vacuum is investigated. The field dependence of the energy levels causes jumps in the total vacuum charge that occur whenever an energy level crosses the Fermi level and this leads to re-entrant cycles of vacuum charging and discharging. In atomic systems these effects require astrophysical magnetic fields of around 10^8 T but in graphene with a mass gap they occur in laboratory fields of about 1 T or lower. It is suggested that an electrostatic graphene quantum dot defined by a gate electrode provides a solid state model of the as yet unobserved c…
The electromagnetic-vacuum-field fluctuations are intimately linked to the process of spontaneous emission of light. Atomic emitters cannot probe electric- and magnetic-field fluctuations simultaneously because electric and magnetic transitions correspond to different selection rules. In this paper we show that semiconductor quantum dots are fundamentally different and are capable of mediating electric-dipole, magnetic-dipole, and electric-quadrupole transitions on a single electronic resonance. As a consequence, quantum dots can probe electric and magnetic fields simultaneously and can thus b…