Optical modelling of quantum dots

The analogy between quantum mechanics and electromagnetism is used to design an optical waveguide with the same transmission and traversal time as a quantum dot. Two different quantum dot geometries are considered for two typical applications: ultrafast devices and computing.     

Quantum wires and quantum dots for neutral atoms

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. Received: 28 October 1997 / Revised: 17 February 1998 / Accepted: 17 July 1998     

Classical and quantum noise in nonlinear optical systems

In quantum optics noise plays an important role, since many of the nonlinear optical systems are quite sensitive to the subtle influences of weak random perturbations, being either classical of quantum mechanical in nature. We discuss the origin of quantum noise emerging from the reversible or the irreversible part of the dynamics and compare it with the properties of purely classical fluctuations. These general features are illustrated by a number of physical examples, such as the laser with loss or gain noise, nonlinear optical devices, and the phenomenon of quantum jumps. These processes have been chosen mainly to illustrate the different aspects of noise, but also because, to a large extent, they can be described in analytical terms.     

Influences of control coherence and decay coherence on optical bistability in a semiconductor quantum well

We discuss the influences of two different types of mechanisms of quantum coherence on optical bistability in a semiconductor quantum well structure.In the first mechanism,only quantum coherence induced by the resonant coupling of a strong control laser is considered.In the second mechanism,the decay coherence is taken into account under the condition where the control field is weak.In two different cases,optical bistability can be obtained through choosing appropriate physical parameters.Our studies show quantum coherence makes the optical nonlinear effect of the system become stronger,which takes an important role in the process of generating optical bistability.A semiconductor quantum well with flexibility and easy integration in design could potentially be exploited in real solid-state devices.     

Atomic spectroscopy and quantum optics in hollow‐core waveguides

Atomic spectroscopy is a well‐established, integral part of the physicist's toolbox with an extremely broad range of applications ranging from astronomy to single atom quantum optics. While highly desirable, miniaturization of atomic spectroscopy techniques on the chip scale was hampered by the apparent incompatibility of conventional solid‐state integrated optics and gaseous media. Here, the state of the art of atomic spectroscopy in hollow‐core optical waveguides is reviewed The two main approaches to confining light in low index atomic vapors are described: hollow‐core photonic crystal fiber (HC‐PCF) and planar antiresonant reflecting optical waveguides (ARROWs). Waveguide design, fabrication, and characterization are reviewed along with the current performance as compact atomic spectroscopy devices. The article specifically focuses on the realization of quantum interference effects in alkali atoms which may enable radically new optical devices based on low‐level nonlinear interactions on the single photon level for frequency standards and quantum communication systems.     

Security analysis on some experimental quantum key distribution systems with imperfect optical and electrical devices

In general, quantum key distribution （QKD） has been proved unconditionally secure for perfect devices due to quantum uncertainty principle, quantum noneloning theorem and quantum nondividing principle which means that a quantum cannot be divided further. However, the practical optical and electrical devices used in the system are imperfect, which can be exploited by the eavesdropper to partially or totally spy the secret key between the legitimate parties. In this article, we first briefly review the recent work on quantum hacking on some experimental QKD systems with respect to imperfect devices carried out internationally, then we will present our recent hacking works in details, including passive faraday mirror attack, partially random phase attack, wavelength-selected photon-number-splitting attack, frequency shift attack, and single-photon-detector attack. Those quantum attack reminds people to improve the security existed in practical QKD systems due to imperfect devices by simply adding countermeasure or adopting a totally different protocol such as measurement-device independent protocol to avoid quantum hacking on the imperfection of measurement devices [Lo, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 2012, 108： 130503].     

The sub-monolayer quantum dot infrared photodetector revisited

The sub-monolayer quantum dot infrared photodetector (SML-QDIP) was proposed as an alternative to the standard QDIP based on Stranski–Krastanow (SK) quantum dots. Theoretical modeling indicates that the normal-incidence photo-response observed in the initial SML-QDIP devices, originally attributed to 3D quantum confinement effect, is most likely the result of optical cavity scattering. Modeling results also suggest candidate SML-QDIP structures with improved intrinsic normal incidence absorption.     

Directed self‐assembly of single quantum dots for telecommunication wavelength optical devices

The ability to control the nucleation site of a single quantum dot will have a profound effect on the development of quantum dot‐based photonic devices. The deterministic approach will provide a truly scalable technology that can take full advantage of conventional semiconductor processing for device fabrication. In this review, we discuss the progress towards the integration of deterministically nucleated single quantum dots with top‐down quantum optical devices targeting telecommunication wavelengths. Advances in site‐controlled quantum dot nucleation using selective‐area epitaxy now makes it possible to position quantum dots at predetermined positions on a substrate in registry with alignment markers. This, in turn, has allowed for devices fabricated in subsequent processing steps to be aligned to individual quantum dots. The specific devices being targeted are gated‐single dots and coupled dot‐cavity systems which are key components of efficient sources of single photons and entangled photon pairs.     

High speed intracavity-contacted vertical cavity surface emitting lasers with separated quantum wells

In this work, the simulation of the 980 nm InGaAs intra-cavity-contacted oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (ICOC VCSELs) with separated triplets of quantum wells (STQW) is presented. We analyze the thermal, electrical and optical properties of such devices. Results of simulations show the larger optical power efficiency and higher modulation bandwidth for devices with included STQW.     

Electro-absorption and refraction in Fabry-Perot quantum well modulators: a general discussion

Fabry-Perot resonators have long been advocated to improve the limited contrast ratio of multiple quantum well optical modulators used in photonic switches based on self electrooptic effect devices (SEEDs) and in other array based optical interconnection schemes. Using data on field dependent GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well absorption and refraction, we have modelled the reflectivity, modulation depth and contrast ratio of resonant modulators. Our results are generally valid for any quantum well modulator and demonstrate 23the important role played by electro-refraction even in regions of strong absorption. Resonators give large contrast ratios but there are trade-offs in the maximum reflectivity change achievable with Fabry-Perot resonators compared to simple modulators. The model gives the optimum number of quantum wells and reflectivity values required to make a resonator at any wavelength for a given quantum well structure. Understanding the limits of Fabry-Perot quantum well modulator performance is important for their application in symmetric self electrooptic effectiveness for photonic switching where modulation and detection properties are both used and for optical interconnection systems.     

Carrier transport effects and dynamics in multiple quantum well optical amplifiers

The gain recovery dynamics of multiple quantum well semiconductor optical amplifiers, following gain compression caused by ultrashort optical pulse excitation, have been studied for several devices of different structures. Fast, slow, and intermediate time constants are identified. The fast component (0.6 to 0.9 ps) corresponds to cooling of the dense, inverted electron-hole plasma. The slow component (150 to 300 ps) corresponds to replenishment of carriers from the external bias supply, with the dynamics dominated by spontaneous recombination (primarily Auger) of the electron-hole plasma. The intermediate time constant (2 to 14 ps) is caused by carrier capture by the quantum wells and is structure-dependent. For most of the devices, the capture process is dominated by diffusion-limited transport in the cladding/barrier region. The variation of carrier density and temperature also affects the refractive index profile of the devices and, hence, affects the waveguiding properties. Dynamical variation of the mode confinement factor is observed on the fast and slow timescales defined above.     

Coherence control for photonic logic gates via Y-configuration double-control quantum interferences

Destructive and constructive quantum interferences exhibited in a four-level Y-configuration double-control atomic system are suggested. It is shown that the probe transition (driven by the probe field) can be manipulated by the quantum interferences between two control transitions (driven by the control fields) of the four-level system. The atomic vapor is opaque (or transparent) to the probe field if the destructive (or constructive) quantum interference between the control transitions emerges. The optically sensitive responses due to double-control quantum interferences can be utilized to realize some quantum optical and photonic devices such as the logic-gate devices, e.g., the NOT, OR, NOR and EXNOR gates.     

Optical implementation of continuous-variable quantum cloning machines

We propose an optical implementation of the Gaussian continuous-variable quantum cloning machines. We construct a symmetric N-->M cloner which optimally clones coherent states, and we also provide an explicit design of a class of asymmetric 1-->2 cloning machines. All proposed cloning devices can be built from just a single nondegenerate optical parametric amplifier and several beam splitters.     

Tunneling-induced ultraslow solitons in triangular quantum dot molecules

We theoretically investigate the propagation of a weak probe laser pulse in a triangular quantum dot molecules scheme based on the tunneling induced transparency. We find that the ultraslow optical solitons can be realized due to the destructive quantum interference induced by the interdot tunneling coupling which can be adjusted by the gate voltage appropriately. This work may provide practical applications such as electro-optic modulated devices and other information processes in semiconductor quantum dots structure.     

Defects related emission and nanosecond optical power limiting in CuS quantum dots

We report optical and nonlinear optical properties of CuS quantum dots and nanoparticles prepared through a nontoxic, green, one-pot synthesis method. The presence of surface states and defects in the quantum dots are evident from the luminescent behavior and enhanced nonlinear optical properties measured using the open aperture Z-scan, employing 5 ns laser pulses at 532 nm. The quantum dots exhibit large effective third order nonlinear optical coefficients with a relatively lower optical limiting threshold of 2.3 J cm⁻², and the optical nonlinearity arises largely from absorption saturation and excited state absorption. Results suggest that these materials are potential candidates for designing efficient optical limiters with applications in laser safety devices.     

High-fidelity quantum logic operations using linear optical elements

Knill, Laflamme, and Milburn [Nature (London) 409, 46 ((2001))]] have shown that quantum logic operations can be performed using linear optical elements and additional ancilla photons. Their approach is probabilistic in the sense that the logic devices fail to produce an output with a failure rate that scales as 1/n, where n is the number of ancilla. Here we present an alternative approach in which the logic devices always produce an output with an intrinsic error rate that scales as 1/n(2), which may have several advantages in quantum computing applications.     

Superluminal optical soliton via resonant tunneling in coupled quantum dots

We demonstrate the formation of superluminal optical soliton in an symmetry semiconductor double quantum dot (QD) driven coherently by a weak pulsed laser using the tunnel coupling. It is shown that the group velocity of the soliton can be larger than the vacuum light speed c, i.e., superluminal soliton can be produced. The results obtained can be used for the development of new types of nanoelectronic devices for realizing high-speed optical modulation and rapidly responding quantum switching.     

Ultimate quantum limits for resolution of beam displacements

We compare two high sensitivity techniques which are used to measure very small displacements of physical objects by optical techniques: the interferometric devices, measuring longitudinal phase shifts, and the devices used to monitor transverse displacement of light beams. We detail the differences and the similarities for the quantum limits on the resolution of both systems. In both cases squeezed light can be used to resolve beyond the standard quantum limit and number correlated states allow us to reach the “Heisenberg” limit. Received 12 September 2002 Published online 21 January 2003     

约瑟夫森器件中的宏观量子现象及超导量子计算

超导体中的电子结成库珀对，凝聚到可以用一个宏观波函数来描绘的能量基态，该波函数的位相是代表了成百万库珀对集体运动的宏观变量．以约瑟夫森结为基础元件的超导约瑟夫森器件，使人们能够控制并测量一个超导体的位相和库珀对数目，因此是研究宏观量子现象的理想系统．文章回顾了约瑟夫森器件中的宏观量子现象研究的发展历程，介绍了当前超导约瑟夫森器件在量子计算中的重要应用，并对它们的未来作了简要的展望．     

Scalable quantum information processing and the optical topological quantum computer

Optical quantum computation has represented one of the most successful testbed systems for quantum information processing. Along with ion-traps and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), experimentalists have demonstrated control of qubits, multi-gubit gates and small quantum algorithms. However, photonic based qubits suffer from a problematic lack of a large scale architecture for fault-tolerant computation which could conceivably be built in the near future. While optical systems are, in some regards, ideal for quantum computing due to their high mobility and low susceptibility to environmental decoherence, these same properties make the construction of compact, chip based architectures difficult. Here we discuss many of the important issues related to scalable fault-tolerant quantum computation and introduce a feasible architecture design for an optics based computer. We combine the recent development of topological cluster state computation with the photonic module, simple chip based devices which can be utilized to deterministically entangle photons. The integration of this operational unit with one of the most exciting computational models solves many of the existing problems with other optics based architectures and leads to a feasible large scale design which can continuously generate a 3D cluster state with a photonic module resource cost linear in the cross sectional size of the cluster.