On‐chip single photon sources using planar photonic crystals and single quantum dots

We review the basic light‐matter interactions and optical properties of chip‐based single photon sources, that are enabled by integrating single quantum dots with planar photonic crystals. A theoretical framework is presented that allows one to connect to a wide range of quantum light propagation effects in a physically intuitive and straightforward way. We focus on the important mechanisms of enhanced spontaneous emission, and efficient photon extraction, using all‐integrated photonic crystal components including waveguides, cavities, quantum dots and output couplers. The limitations, challenges, and exciting prospects of developing on‐chip quantum light sources using integrated photonic crystal structures are discussed.     

Strongly modified spontaneous emission rates in diamond-structured photonic crystals

The spontaneous emission decay dynamics of nanocrystal quantum dots embedded into biotemplated titania photonic crystals with a diamond-based lattice are investigated. Modification of the decay rate of quantum dot emission over wide frequency bandwidths in the visible by the photonic crystals is observed. Frequency-dependent analysis reveals both inhibition and enhancement of emission with a radiative lifetime variation by more than a factor of 10.     

Decay of a quantum dot in two-dimensional metallic photonic crystals

In this paper we have developed a theory for the decay of a quantum dot doped in a two-dimensional metallic photonic crystal consisting of two different metallic pillars in an air background medium. This crystal structure forms a full two-dimensional photonic band gap when the appropriate pillar sizes are chosen. The advantage of using two metals is that one can easily control the density of states and optical properties of these photonic crystals by changing the plasma energies of two metals rather than one. Using the Schrödinger equation method and the photonic density of states, we calculated the linewidth broadening and the spectral function of radiation due to spontaneous emission for two-level quantum dots doped in the system. Our results show that by changing the plasma energies one can control spontaneous emission of quantum dots doped in the metallic photonic crystal.     

Inhibited spontaneous emission of quantum dots observed in a 3D photonic band gap

We present time-resolved emission experiments of semiconductor quantum dots in silicon 3D inverse-woodpile photonic band gap crystals. A systematic study is made of crystals with a range of pore radii to tune the band gap relative to the emission frequency. The decay rates averaged over all dipole orientations are inhibited by a factor of 10 in the photonic band gap and enhanced up to 2× outside the gap, in agreement with theory. We discuss the effects of spatial inhomogeneity, nonradiative decay, and transition dipole orientations on the observed inhibition in the band gap.     

CdSe infiltrated TiO2 based omnidirectional photonic crystals for visible light control

Control of light emission by engineering the electromagnetic vacuum is important in photonics for fundamental understanding as well as in applications. Omnidirectional photonic crystals such as logpile photonic crystals provide a very interesting system to study such phenomena. Here, we describe the first steps towards achieving systematic and reproducible control of light using titanium dioxide (TiO₂) logpile photonic crystals (PC) with incorporated cadmium chalcogenide (CdSe) quantum dots (QDs) (λ  600 nm) to potentially modify QD photoluminescence (PL). We present a technique for coating a monolayer of the QDs on the PC rods based on 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilanol linkage and measured the resulting PL response. Comparison of the PL spectra to a finite difference time domain model shows the need for further localization of QDs and fabrication of additional PC unit cells to observe PL modification.     

Phonon-mediated coupling of InGaAs/GaAs quantum-dot excitons to photonic crystal cavities

We demonstrate that the emission characteristics of site-controlled InGaAs/GaAs single quantum dots embedded in photonic crystal slab cavities correspond to single confined excitons coupled to cavity modes, unlike previous reports of similar systems based on self-assembled quantum dots. By using polarization-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy at different temperatures and a theoretical model, we show that the exciton-cavity interaction range is limited to the phonon sidebands. Photon-correlation and pump-power dependence experiments under nonresonant excitation conditions further establish that the cavity is fed only by a single exciton.     

Experimental realization of highly efficient broadband coupling of single quantum dots to a photonic crystal waveguide

We present time-resolved spontaneous emission measurements of single quantum dots embedded in photonic crystal waveguides. Quantum dots that couple to a photonic crystal waveguide are found to decay up to 27 times faster than uncoupled quantum dots. From these measurements beta-factors of up to 0.89 are derived, and an unprecedented large bandwidth of 20 nm is demonstrated. This shows the promising potential of photonic crystal waveguides for efficient single-photon sources. The scaled frequency range over which the enhancement is observed is in excellent agreement with recent theoretical proposals taking into account that the light-matter coupling is strongly enhanced due to the significant slow-down of light in the photonic crystal waveguides.     

Fabrication of three‐dimensional photonic crystals in quantum‐dot‐based materials

Controlling spontaneous emission (SE) is of fundamental importance to a diverse range of photonic applications including but not limited to quantum optics, low power displays, solar energy harvesting and optical communications. Characterized by photonic bandgap (PBG) property, three‐dimensional (3D) photonic crystals (PCs) have emerged as a promising synthetic material, which can manipulate photons in much the same way as a semiconductor does to electrons. Emission tunable nanocrystal quantum dots (QDs) are ideal point sources to be embedded into 3D PCs towards active devices. The challenge however lies in the combination of QDs with 3D PCs without degradation of their emission properties. Polymer materials stand out for this purpose due to their flexibility of incorporating active materials. Combining the versatile multi‐photon 3D micro‐fabrication techniques, active 3D PCs have been fabricated in polymer‐QD composites with demonstrated control of SE from QDs. With this milestone novel miniaturized photonic devices can thus be envisaged.     

Decay lifetime and evolution of semiconductor quantum dots in photonic crystals

Spontaneous emission from GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots (QDs) embedded in photonic crystals with a narrow photonic band gap is studied theoretically. The results show that the decay lifetime is very sensitive to the sizes of QDs, and both inhibited and accelerated emission can occur, which had been indicated in a previous experiment. The Weisskopf–Wigner approximation, good for atoms and molecules, may be incorrect for QDs. A damped Rabi oscillation of the excited state with the transition frequency outside the photonic band gap may appear, which is impossible for atoms and molecules.     

Advances in photonic crystals with MEMS and with semiconductor quantum dots

We discuss photonic crystals (PCs) with a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) and semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) as novel classes of PC devices. Integration of MEMS structures into PC devices enables one to realize several kinds of functional devices, such as modulators, switches, and tunable filters for highly integrated photonic circuits. We describe the basic concept of MEMS-integrated PC devices and show numerical and experimental demonstrations of MEMS-integrated functional PC devices. On the other hand, QDs are promising candidates for active media in PC devices. Spontaneous emission control of QD emission in PC nanocavities is especially important for novel optoelectronic devices and quantum information devices. In PC nanocavities, the interaction between QD excitons and photons is enhanced dramatically. The control of spontaneous emission spectrum and the enhancement of the luminescence intensity of InAs QDs by PC nanocavities are demonstrated at telecommunication wavelengths. The Purcell effect for ensemble and single QDs in PC nanocavities are also discussed.     

Inhibition, enhancement, and control of spontaneous emission in photonic nanowires

We experimentally investigate the spontaneous emission (SE) rates of single InAs quantum dots embedded in GaAs photonic nanowires. For a diameter leading to the optimal confinement of the fundamental guided mode HE11, the coupling to HE11 dominates the SE process and an increase of the SE rate by a factor of 1.5 is achieved. When the diameter is decreased, the coupling to this mode vanishes rapidly, thus allowing the coupling to the other radiation modes to be probed. In these conditions, a SE inhibition factor of 16, equivalent to the one obtained in state-of-the-art photonic crystals, is measured. These results, which are supported by fully vectorial calculations, confirm the potential of photonic nanowires for a nearly perfect, broadband SE control.     

半导体纳米材料和物理

半导体纳米材料是纳米材料的一个重要组成部分，纳米结构的电子和光子器件将成为下一代微电子和光电子器件的核心。文章介绍了半导体纳米材料研究的新进展，包括四个方面：半导体自组织生长量子点，纳米晶体，微腔光子晶体和纳米结构中的自旋电子学。本世纪开始的半导体纳米材料的研究是上世纪半导体超晶格量子阱研究的延续，同时又开辟了一些新的领域，如：单电子的电子学、单光子的光子学，微腔和光子晶体，稀磁半导体和自旋电子的相干输运等，这些研究将为研制在新原理基础上的新器件和实现量子计算、量子通信打下基础。     

Electrically injected quantum-dot photonic crystal microcavity light sources

The design, fabrication, and characterization of an electrically injected quantum-dot photonic crystal microcavity light source are described. The optical gain in the GaAs/AlGaAs-based device is provided by self-organized InGaAs quantum dots with ground-state room-temperature emission at 1.1 microm. The carriers are injected directly into the photonic crystal microcavity, which contains approximately 50 dots, avoiding surface state recombination in the photonic crystal pattern. The spectral characteristics of a single-defect photonic crystal microcavity show a single 2 nm broad microcavity resonance. The output power is of the order of a few tens of nanowatts.     

Charge controlled self-assembled quantum dots coupled to photonic crystal nanocavities

The system of charge controlled self-assembled quantum dots coupled to high-Q photonic crystal cavity modes is studied. The quantum dots are embedded in a p-i-n diode structure. Different designs of photonic crystal cavities are used, namely H1 and L3 and the Purcell effect is demonstrated. Furthermore, the fine tuning of the H1 cavity design is studied in order to achieve far field emission profiles that result in higher collection efficiency. An increase in the overall signal from the quantum dot when it is coupled to a cavity is observed, due to the Purcell effect and the improved collection efficiency. This together with the deterministic charging of the quantum dot that is demonstrated, can be used for a single electron spin measurement.     

Fractional decay of quantum dots in real photonic crystals

We show that fractional decay may be observable in experiments using quantum dots and photonic crystals with parameters that are currently achievable. We focus on the case of inverse opal photonic crystals and locate the position in the crystal where the effect is most pronounced. Furthermore, we quantify the influence of absorptive loss and show that it is a limiting but not prohibitive effect.     

Logic gate based on a one-dimensional photonic crystal containing quantum dots

The feasibility of using quantum dots as a dense resonant medium with large transition dipole moments is analyzed. The possibility of creating one-dimensional photonic crystals containing quantum dots is examined on the basis of published experimental and theoretical data and the basic parameters of such systems are discussed. A numerical solution of the generalized Maxwell–Bloch equations is used to show that the interaction of coherent light pulses with a photonic structure containing quantum dots can be used to create optical logical operations of types that will depend on the spectral properties of the crystal.     

Controlling the spontaneous emission rate of single quantum dots in a two-dimensional photonic crystal

We observe large spontaneous emission rate modification of individual InAs quantum dots (QDs) in a 2D photonic crystal with a modified, high-Q single-defect cavity. Compared to QDs in a bulk semiconductor, QDs that are resonant with the cavity show an emission rate increase of up to a factor of 8. In contrast, off-resonant QDs indicate up to fivefold rate quenching as the local density of optical states is diminished in the photonic crystal. In both cases, we demonstrate photon antibunching, showing that the structure represents an on-demand single photon source with a pulse duration from 210 ps to 8 ns. We explain the suppression of QD emission rate using finite difference time domain simulations and find good agreement with experiment.     

Polarization,spectral, and spatial emission characteristics of chiral semiconductor nanostructures

A detailed study of the degree of circular polarization and the angular dependence of the emission spectra of an array of InAs quantum dots embedded in GaAs photonic nanostructures with chiral symmetry in the absence of an external magnetic field is carried out. A strong angular dependence of the spectra and the degree of circular polarization of radiation from quantum dots, as well as a significant effect of the lattice period of the photonic crystal on the radiation characteristics, is observed. The dispersion of photonic modes near the (±3, 0) and (±2, ±2) Bragg resonances is investigated in detail. The experimentally observed polarization, spectral, and angular characteristics of the quantum-dot emission are explained in the framework of a theory describing radiative processes in chiral photonic nanostructures.     

Linearly polarized, single-mode spontaneous emission in a photonic nanowire

We introduce dielectric elliptical photonic nanowires to funnel efficiently the spontaneous emission of an embedded emitter into a single optical mode. Inside a wire with a moderate lateral aspect ratio, the electromagnetic environment is largely dominated by a single guided mode, with a linear polarization oriented along the ellipse major axis. The resulting monomode spontaneous emission is maintained over a broad wavelength range, a key asset of this 1D photonic structure. Our theoretical analysis is completed by an experimental study of GaAs elliptical photonic wires with embedded InAs quantum dots. In particular, the fraction of collected photons with the desired linear polarization can exceed 95%.     

Modification of the spontaneous emission of quantum dots near the surface of a three-dimensional colloidal photonic crystal

This paper demonstrates experimentally and numerically that a significant modification of spontaneous emission rate can be achieved near the surface of a three-dimensional photonic crystal.In experiments,semiconductor core-shell quantum dots are intentionally confined in a thin polymer film on which a three-dimensional colloidal photonic crystal is fabricated.The spontaneous emission rate of quantum dots is characterised by conventional and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) measurements.The modification of the spontaneous emission rate,which is reflected in the change of spectral shape and PL lifetime,is clearly observed.While an obvious increase in the PL lifetime is found at most wavelengths in the band gap,a significant reduction in the PL lifetime by one order of magnitude is observed at the short-wavelength band edge.Numerical simulation reveals a periodic modulation of spontaneous emission rate with decreasing modulation strength when an emitter is moved away from the surface of the photonic crystal.It is supported by the fact that the modification of spontaneous emission rate is not pronounced for quantum dots distributed in a thick polymer film where both enhancement and suppression are present simultaneously.This finding provides a simple and effective way for improving the performance of light emitting devices.