A bright photon source that combines high-fidelity entanglement, on-demand generation, high extraction efficiency, directional and coherent emission, as well as position control at the nanoscale is required for implementing ambitious schemes in quantum information processing, such as that of a quantum repeater. Still, all of these properties have not yet been achieved in a single device. Semiconductor quantum dots embedded in nanowire waveguides potentially satisfy all of these requirements; however, although theoretically predicted, entanglement has not yet been demonstrated for a nanowire quantum dot. Here, we demonstrate a bright and coherent source of strongly entangled photon pairs from a position-controlled nanowire quantum dot with a fidelity as high as 0.859±0.006 and concurrence of 0.80±0.02. The two-photon quantum state is modified via the nanowire shape. Our new nanoscale entangled photon source can be integrated at desired positions in a quantum photonic circuit, single-electron devices and light-emitting diodes.

We report on the ultraclean emission from single quantum dots embedded in pure wurtzite nanowires. Using a two-step growth process combining selective-area and vapor-liquid-solid epitaxy, we grow defect-free wurtzite InP nanowires with embedded InAsP quantum dots, which are clad to diameters sufficient for waveguiding at λ ~ 950 nm. The absence of nearby traps, at both the nanowire surface and along its length in the vicinity of the quantum dot, manifests in excitonic transitions of high spectral purity. Narrow emission line widths (30 μeV) and very-pure single photon emission with a probability of multiphoton emission below 1% are achieved, both of which were not possible in previous work where stacking fault densities were significantly higher.

A comparison is made between the conventional non-selective vapour-liquid-solid growth of InP nanowires and a novel selective-area growth process where the Au-seeded InP nanowires grow exclusively in the openings of a SiO(2) mask on an InP substrate. This new process allows the precise positioning and diameter control of the nanowires required for future advanced device fabrication. The growth temperature range is found to be extended for the selective-area growth technique due to removal of the competition between material incorporation at the Au/nanowire interface and the substrate. A model describing the growth mechanism is presented which successfully accounts for the nanoparticle size-dependent and time-dependent growth rate. The dominant indium collection process is found to be the scattering of the group III source material from the SiO(2) mask and subsequent capture by the nanowire, a process that had previously been ignored for selective-area growth by chemical beam epitaxy.

A major step toward fully integrated quantum optics is the deterministic incorporation of high quality single photon sources in on-chip optical circuits. We show a novel hybrid approach in which preselected III-V single quantum dots in nanowires are transferred and integrated in silicon based photonic circuits. The quantum emitters maintain their high optical quality after integration as verified by measuring a low multiphoton probability of 0.07 ± 0.07 and emission line width as narrow as 3.45 ± 0.48 GHz. Our approach allows for optimum alignment of the quantum dot light emission to the fundamental waveguide mode resulting in very high coupling efficiencies. We estimate a coupling efficiency of 24.3 ± 1.7% from the studied single-photon source to the photonic channel and further show by finite-difference time-domain simulations that for an optimized choice of material and design the efficiency can exceed 90%.

Single-electron charging in an individual InAs quantum dot was observed by electrostatic force measurements with an atomic-force microscope (AFM). The resonant frequency shift and the dissipated energy of an oscillating AFM cantilever were measured as a function of the tip-back electrode voltage, and the resulting spectra show distinct jumps when the tip was positioned above the dot. The observed jumps in the frequency shift, with corresponding peaks in dissipation, are attributed to a single-electron tunneling between the dot and the back electrode governed by the Coulomb blockade effect, and are consistent with a model based on the free energy of the system. The observed phenomenon may be regarded as the "force version" of the Coulomb blockade effect.

Strong confinement of charges in few-electron systems such as in atoms, molecules, and quantum dots leads to a spectrum of discrete energy levels often shared by several degenerate states. Because the electronic structure is key to understanding their chemical properties, methods that probe these energy levels in situ are important. We show how electrostatic force detection using atomic force microscopy reveals the electronic structure of individual and coupled self-assembled quantum dots. An electron addition spectrum results from a change in cantilever resonance frequency and dissipation when an electron tunnels on/off a dot. The spectra show clear level degeneracies in isolated quantum dots, supported by the quantitative measurement of predicted temperature-dependent shifts of Coulomb blockade peaks. Scanning the surface shows that several quantum dots may reside on what topographically appears to be just one. Relative coupling strengths can be estimated from these images of grouped coupled dots.nanoelectronics | single-electron charging | shell structure | electrostatic force microscopy T he ability to confine single charges at discrete energy levels makes semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) promising candidates as a platform for quantum computation (1, 2) and singlephoton sources (3). Tremendous progress has been made not only in understanding the properties of single electrons in QDs but also in controlling their quantum states, which is an essential prerequisite for quantum computation (4). Single-electron transport measurements have been the main experimental technique for investigating electron tunneling into QDs (5). Charge sensing techniques using built-in charge sensors, such as quantum point contacts (6), complement transport measurements because lower electron tunneling rates can be monitored with even real-time detection being possible (7). It is instrumentally challenging to study self-assembled QDs via conventional transport and charge sensing methods because of the difficulty in attaching electrodes. Although progress is being made (8-12), these techniques have very small yield and therefore make it difficult to assess variation in QD electronic properties. Compared to typical QDs studied via transport measurements, in particular lithographically defined QDs, self-assembled QDs can be fabricated to have smaller sizes, stronger confinement potentials, and a more scalable fabrication process, all of which make them attractive for practical applications.In this paper, we focus on an alternative technique for studying QDs that is better suited for self-assembled QDs: charge sensing by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Charge sensing by AFM is a convenient method to study the electronic structure of QDs because nanoelectrodes are not required and large numbers of QDs can be investigated in one experiment. Termed single-electron electrostatic force microscopy (e-EFM), this technique relies on the high force sensitivity of AFM to detect the electrostatic force resulting from single electrons tunneling into ...

Quantum light plays a pivotal role in modern science and future photonic applications. Since the advent of integrated quantum nanophotonics different material platforms based on III–V nanostructures-, colour centers-, and nonlinear waveguides as on-chip light sources have been investigated. Each platform has unique advantages and limitations; however, all implementations face major challenges with filtering of individual quantum states, scalable integration, deterministic multiplexing of selected quantum emitters, and on-chip excitation suppression. Here we overcome all of these challenges with a hybrid and scalable approach, where single III–V quantum emitters are positioned and deterministically integrated in a complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor-compatible photonic circuit. We demonstrate reconfigurable on-chip single-photon filtering and wavelength division multiplexing with a foot print one million times smaller than similar table-top approaches, while offering excitation suppression of more than 95 dB and efficient routing of single photons over a bandwidth of 40 nm. Our work marks an important step to harvest quantum optical technologies’ full potential.

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