Measurement of the inhomogeneous broadening of a bi-exciton state in a quantum dot using Franson-type nonlocal interference.

The inhomogeneous broadening of the bi-exciton state in quantum dots, i.e., the inhomogeneous broadening of the upper level of the cascade process, is not only a fundamental problem in quantum dots, but also closely related with the coherent control of this complex system and the quality of the entangled photon pairs, especially the time-bin entangled photon pairs. This inhomogeneous broadening is inherently a two-photon correlated phenomenon. In this work, we construct a genuine Franson-type nonlocal interference process to measure the inhomogeneous broadening of the bi-exciton state. The results show that the inhomogeneous broadening of the bi-exciton state is considerably smaller than that of the exciton state, that is why the entangled photon pairs can be generated by the cascade process in the quantum dot.

Storage of multiple single-photon pulses emitted from a quantum dot in a solid-state quantum memory.

Quantum repeaters are critical components for distributing entanglement over long distances in presence of unavoidable optical losses during transmission. Stimulated by the Duan-Lukin-Cirac-Zoller protocol, many improved quantum repeater protocols based on quantum memories have been proposed, which commonly focus on the entanglement-distribution rate. Among these protocols, the elimination of multiple photons (or multiple photon-pairs) and the use of multimode quantum memory are demonstrated to have the ability to greatly improve the entanglement-distribution rate. Here, we demonstrate the storage of deterministic single photons emitted from a quantum dot in a polarization-maintaining solid-state quantum memory; in addition, multi-temporal-mode memory with 1, 20 and 100 narrow single-photon pulses is also demonstrated. Multi-photons are eliminated, and only one photon at most is contained in each pulse. Moreover, the solid-state properties of both sub-systems make this configuration more stable and easier to be scalable. Our work will be helpful in the construction of efficient quantum repeaters based on all-solid-state devices.

Single InAs quantum dot grown at the junction of branched gold-free GaAs nanowire.

We report a new type of single InAs quantum dot (QD) embedded at the junction of gold-free branched GaAs/AlGaAs nanowire (NW) grown on silicon substrate. The photoluminescence intensity of such QD is ~20 times stronger than that from randomly distributed QD grown on the facet of straight NW. Sharp excitonic emission is observed at 4.2 K with a line width of 101 µeV and a vanishing two-photon emission probability of g(2)(0) = 0.031(2). This new nanostructure may open new ways for designing novel quantum optoelectronic devices.

In situ accurate control of 2D-3D transition parameters for growth of low-density InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots.

A method to improve the growth repeatability of low-density InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots by molecular beam epitaxy is reported. A sacrificed InAs layer was deposited firstly to determine in situ the accurate parameters of two- to three-dimensional transitions by observation of reflection high-energy electron diffraction patterns, and then the InAs layer annealed immediately before the growth of the low-density InAs quantum dots (QDs). It is confirmed by micro-photoluminescence that control repeatability of low-density QD growth is improved averagely to about 80% which is much higher than that of the QD samples without using a sacrificed InAs layer.

Photoluminescence study of low density InAs quantum clusters grown by molecular beam epitaxy.

We report a systematic optical spectroscopy study of low density InAs quantum clusters (QCs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra show emission features of a wetting layer (WL) which contains hybridized quantum well states. The low-energy tail of the QCs' PL profile is actually an ensemble of some sharp lines, originating from the emission of different exciton states (e.g. X, X*, XX*) in a single quasi-three-dimensional (Q3D) cluster as detailed in the micro-PL spectra. The temperature dependence of PL spectra indicates photocarrier distribution and transport in the QC-WL system. Furthermore, this small InAs Q3D cluster is integrated with a distributed Bragg reflector structure, and using optical excitation creates a single photon source with the second-order correlation function of g((2))(0) = 0.31 at 16 K.