Optical modes in oxide-apertured micropillar cavities.

We present a detailed experimental characterization of the spectral and spatial structure of the confined optical modes for oxide-apertured micropillar cavities, showing good-quality Hermite-Gaussian profiles, easily mode-matched to external fields. We further derive a relation between the frequency splitting of the transverse modes and the expected Purcell factor. Finally, we describe a technique to retrieve the profile of the confining refractive index distribution from the spatial profiles of the modes.

CNOT and Bell-state analysis in the weak-coupling cavity QED regime.

We propose an interface between the spin of a photon and the spin of an electron confined in a quantum dot embedded in a microcavity operating in the weak-coupling regime. This interface, based on spin selective photon reflection from the cavity, can be used to construct a CNOT gate, a multiphoton entangler and a photonic Bell-state analyzer. Finally, we analyze experimental feasibility, concluding that the schemes can be implemented with current technology.