Nonlinear Rydberg exciton-polaritons in CuO microcavities.

Rydberg excitons (analogues of Rydberg atoms in condensed matter systems) are highly excited bound electron-hole states with large Bohr radii. The interaction between them as well as exciton coupling to light may lead to strong optical nonlinearity, with applications in sensing and quantum information processing. Here, we achieve strong effective photon-photon interactions (Kerr-like optical nonlinearity) via the Rydberg blockade phenomenon and the hybridisation of excitons and photons forming polaritons in a Cu2O-filled microresonator.

Chirality of nanophotonic waveguide with embedded quantum emitter for unidirectional spin transfer.

Scalable quantum technologies may be achieved by faithful conversion between matter qubits and photonic qubits in integrated circuit geometries. Within this context, quantum dots possess well-defined spin states (matter qubits), which couple efficiently to photons. By embedding them in nanophotonic waveguides, they provide a promising platform for quantum technology implementations.

Waveguide coupled resonance fluorescence from on-chip quantum emitter.

Resonantly driven quantum emitters offer a very promising route to obtain highly coherent sources of single photons required for applications in quantum information processing (QIP). Realizing this for on-chip scalable devices would be important for scientific advances and practical applications in the field of integrated quantum optics. Here we report on-chip quantum dot (QD) resonance fluorescence (RF) efficiently coupled into a single-mode waveguide, a key component of a photonic integrated circuit, with a negligible resonant laser background and show that the QD coherence is enhanced by more than a factor of 4 compared to off-resonant excitation.

Nuclear spin effects in semiconductor quantum dots.

The interaction of an electronic spin with its nuclear environment, an issue known as the central spin problem, has been the subject of considerable attention due to its relevance for spin-based quantum computation using semiconductor quantum dots. Independent control of the nuclear spin bath using nuclear magnetic resonance techniques and dynamic nuclear polarization using the central spin itself offer unique possibilities for manipulating the nuclear bath with significant consequences for the coherence and controlled manipulation of the central spin. Here we review some of the recent optical and transport experiments that have explored this central spin problem using semiconductor quantum dots.

Homogeneous array of nanowire-embedded quantum light emitters.

The potential for scale-up coupled with minimized system size is likely to be a major determining factor in the realization of applicable quantum information systems. Nanofabrication technology utilizing the III-V semiconductor system provides a path to scalable quantum bit (qubit) integration and a materials platform with combined electronic/photonic functionality. Here, we address the key requirement of qubit-site and emission energy control for scale-up by demonstrating uniform arrays of III-V nanowires, where each nanowire contains a single quantum dot.

Laser location and manipulation of a single quantum tunneling channel in an InAs quantum dot.

We use a femtowatt focused laser beam to locate and manipulate a single quantum tunneling channel associated with an individual InAs quantum dot within an ensemble of dots. The intensity of the directed laser beam tunes the tunneling current through the targeted dot with an effective optical gain of 10(7) and modifies the curvature of the dot's confining potential and the spatial extent of its ground state electron eigenfunction. These observations are explained by the effect of photocreated hole charges which become bound close to the targeted dot, thus acting as an optically induced gate electrode.

Fast control of nuclear spin polarization in an optically pumped single quantum dot.

Highly polarized nuclear spins within a semiconductor quantum dot induce effective magnetic (Overhauser) fields of up to several Tesla acting on the electron spin, or up to a few hundred mT for the hole spin. Recently this has been recognized as a resource for intrinsic control of quantum-dot-based spin quantum bits. However, only static long-lived Overhauser fields could be used.

Pumping of nuclear spins by optical excitation of spin-forbidden transitions in a quantum dot.

We demonstrate that efficient optical pumping of nuclear spins in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) can be achieved by resonant pumping of optically forbidden transitions. This process corresponds to one-to-one conversion of a photon absorbed by the dot into a polarized nuclear spin, and also has potential for initialization of hole spin in QDs. We find that by employing this spin-forbidden process, nuclear polarization of 65% can be achieved, markedly higher than from pumping the allowed transition, which saturates due to the low probability of electron-nuclear spin flip-flop.

Dynamics of coherent and incoherent spin polarizations in ensembles of quantum dots.

The temperature dependence of spin coherence in InGaAs quantum dots is obtained from quantum beats observed in polarization-resolved pump-probe experiments. Within the same sample we clearly distinguish between coherent spin dynamics leading to quantum beats and incoherent long-lived spin-memory effects. Analysis of the coherent data using a theoretical model reveals approximately 10 times greater stability of the spin coherence at high temperature compared to that found previously for exciton states in four-wave-mixing experiments by Borri et al.