Sub-nanosecond Electro-optic Modulation of Triggered Single Photons from a Quantum Dot

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates sub-nanosecond electro-optic modulation of triggered single photons from quantum dots, enabling precise control over photon wave-packets for quantum communication applications.

Contribution

It introduces a method for temporally shaping single photon wave-packets emitted by quantum dots using electro-optic modulation on sub-nanosecond timescales.

Findings

Achieved Gaussian-shaped single photon wave-packets

Demonstrated modulation of exponentially decaying wave-packets

Explored pulse-shape variations to enhance photon indistinguishability

Abstract

Control of single photon wave-packets is an important resource for developing hybrid quantum systems which are composed of different physical systems interacting via photons. Here we extend this control to triggered photons emitted by a quantum dot, temporally shaping single photon wave-packets on timescales fast compared to their radiative decay by electro-optic modulation. In particular, telecommunications-band single photons resulting from the recombination of an exciton in a quantum dot with exponentially decaying wave-packets are synchronously modulated to create Gaussian-shaped single photon wave-packets. We explore other pulse-shapes and investigate the feasibility of this technique for increasing the indistinguishability of quantum dot generated single photons.