We report direct observations of Rabi oscillations and self-induced transparency in a quantum dot optical amplifier operating at room temperature. The experiments make use of pulses whose durations are shorter than the coherence time which are characterized using Cross-Frequency-Resolved Optical Gating. A numerical model which solves the Maxwell and Schrödinger equations and accounts for the inhomogeneously broadened nature of the quantum dot gain medium confirms the experimental results. The model is also used to explain the relationship between the observability of Rabi oscillations, the pulse duration and the homogeneous and inhomogeneous spectral widths of the semiconductor.

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The effect of the number of InAs/InP quantum dot layers (QDLs) on the static parameters of 1.55 μm emitting lasers was studied in the range of 1–3 QDLs. Due to the high modal gain of Γg0 ≥ 15.5 cm−1 per QDL ground state lasing of lasers with only a single QDL could be achieved with 11 mW total output power. By optimizing the QDLs number and the cavity length, the temperature dependence of the emission wavelength can be intrinsically stabilized resulting in an ultra-low emission wavelength shift of 0.078 nm/K for a 590 μm long laser with 2 QDLs.

Quantum decoherence times in semiconductors are extremely short, particularly at room temperature where the quantum phase is completely erased in a fraction of a picosecond. However, they are still of finite duration during which the quantum phase is well defined and can be tailored. Recently, we demonstrated that quantum coherent phenomena can be easily accessed by examining the phase and amplitude of an optical pulse following propagation along a room temperature semiconductor optical amplifier. Taking the form of Rabi oscillations, these recent observations enabled to decipher the time evolution of the ensemble states. Here we demonstrate the Ramsey analogous experiment known as coherent control. Remarkably, coherent control occurs even under room temperature conditions and enables to directly resolve the dephasing times. These results may open a new way for the realization of room temperature semiconductor-based ultra-high speed quantum processors with all the advantages of upscaling and low-cost manufacturing.

A monolithically integrated widely tunable narrow-linewidth light source was realized on an InP-based quantum dot (QD) gain material. The quasi zero-dimensional nature of QDs and the resulting low linewidth enhancement factor enabled standalone distributed feedback (DFB) lasers with intrinsic linewidths as low as 110 kHz. An integrated device comprising four DFB lasers with on-chip micro-heaters, a 3 dB-coupler network, and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), which covers the entire C+ telecom band, exhibits a linewidth of below 200 kHz independent of the SOA operation current.