Microscopic theory of indistinguishable single-photon emission from a quantum dot coupled to a cavity: The role of non-Markovian phonon-induced decoherence

TL;DR

This paper investigates how non-Markovian phonon interactions limit the indistinguishability of single photons emitted from quantum dot-cavity systems, providing new insights through an exact diagonalization approach.

Contribution

It introduces an exact diagonalization method revealing the significant impact of short-time non-Markovian effects on photon indistinguishability in quantum dot-cavity systems.

Findings

Non-Markovian effects significantly limit photon indistinguishability.

Exact diagonalization reveals differences from standard methods.

Polariton picture explains phonon-induced dephasing dynamics.

Abstract

We study the fundamental limit on single-photon indistinguishability imposed by decoherence due to phonon interactions in semiconductor quantum dot-cavity QED systems. Employing an exact diagonalization approach we find large differences compared to standard methods. An important finding is that short-time non-Markovian effects limit the maximal attainable indistinguishability. The results are explained using a polariton picture that yields valuable insight into the phonon-induced dephasing dynamics.