Abstract
The coherent interaction of electromagnetic fields with solid-state two-level systems can yield deterministic quantum light sources for photonic quantum technologies. To date, the performance of semiconductor single-photon sources based on three-level systems is limited mainly due to a lack of high photon indistinguishability. Here we tailor the cavity-enhanced spontaneous emission from a ladder-type three-level system in a single epitaxial quantum dot through stimulated emission. After populating the biexciton (XX) of the quantum dot through two-photon resonant excitation, we use another laser pulse to selectively depopulate the XX state into an exciton (X) state with a predefined polarization. The stimulated XX–X emission modifies the X decay dynamics and improves the characteristics of a polarized single-photon source, such as a source brightness of 0.030(2), a single-photon purity of 0.998(1) and an indistinguishability of 0.926(4). Our method can be readily applied to existing quantum dot single-photon sources and expands the capabilities of three-level systems for advanced quantum photonic functionalities.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available within the paper and the Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper. Other relevant data are available from the corresponding authors on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
J.L. thanks K. Srinivasan for his continuing support and H. Shen for helpful discussions. This research was supported by National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFA0306101 and 2021YFA1400800), Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (2018B030329001), the Guangdong Special Support Program (2019JC05X397), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (62035017, 11874437, 12074442 and 91836303), the Local Innovative and Research Teams Project of the Guangdong Pearl River Talents Program (2017BT01X121) and the National Super-Computer Center in Guangzhou.
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J.L. conceived the project. S.-F.L. performed the numerical simulations. Y.Y., X. Su, S.L., X. Shang, H.L., H.H. and H.N. grew the QD wafers. S.-F.L. and X.L. fabricated the devices. J.I.-S. contributed to the theoretical modelling. Y.W., S.-F.L. and J.L. built the set-up and characterized the devices. J.L., S.-F.L. and Y.W. analysed the data. J.L. wrote the manuscript with inputs from all the authors. J.L., S.Y., Z.N. and X.W. supervised the project.
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Extended data
Extended Data Fig. 1 Schematic of the setup for optical characterizations.
The setup consisting of 6 functional sections including cryogenic confocal system, pulse shaper, delay generator, spectrometer, filter set and HOM/HBT interferometers. BS: beam splitter, HWP: half-wave plate, LP filter: Long pass filter.
Extended Data Fig. 2 Indistinguishability and linewidth for different delay time.
The raw visibilities of the HOM interference for delay time of -46 ps (a), 18 ps (b) and 317 ps (c), respectively. The linewidths of the emission for delay time of -46 ps (d), 18 ps(e) and 317 ps (f), respectively.
Extended Data Fig. 3 Comparison of the metrics for the polarized single-source under different excitation schemes.
Excitation scheme, second-order correlation, Hong-Ou-Mandel interference and Blinking behavior for resonant excitation (a), TPE with stimulated lasers (b), LA-phonon assisted excitation (c) and two-color resonant excitation (d).
Supplementary information
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Supplementary Figs. 1–7.
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Source Data Fig. 2
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Raw data for Fig. 3.
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Source Data Extended Data Fig. 2
Raw data for Fig. E2.
Source Data Extended Data Fig. 3
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Wei, Y., Liu, S., Li, X. et al. Tailoring solid-state single-photon sources with stimulated emissions. Nat. Nanotechnol. 17, 470–476 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01092-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01092-6
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