Generation and control of polarization-entangled photons from GaAs island quantum dots by an electric field

Nat Commun. 2012 Feb 7:3:661. doi: 10.1038/ncomms1657.

Abstract

Semiconductor quantum dots are potential sources for generating polarization-entangled photons efficiently. The main prerequisite for such generation based on biexciton-exciton cascaded emission is to control the exciton fine-structure splitting. Among various techniques investigated for this purpose, an electric field is a promising means to facilitate the integration into optoelectronic devices. Here we demonstrate the generation of polarization-entangled photons from single GaAs quantum dots by an electric field. In contrast to previous studies, which were limited to In(Ga)As quantum dots, GaAs island quantum dots formed by a thickness fluctuation were used because they exhibit a larger oscillator strength and emit light with a shorter wavelength. A forward voltage was applied to a Schottky diode to control the fine-structure splitting. We observed a decrease and suppression in the fine-structure splitting of the studied single quantum dot with the field, which enabled us to generate polarization-entangled photons with a high fidelity of 0.72 ± 0.05.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arsenicals / chemistry*
  • Electricity
  • Electronics
  • Gallium / chemistry*
  • Light
  • Nanotechnology / methods
  • Oscillometry / methods
  • Photons
  • Physics / methods
  • Quantum Dots*
  • Scattering, Radiation
  • Semiconductors
  • Spectrophotometry / methods
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Arsenicals
  • gallium arsenide
  • Gallium