Modelling Markovian light-matter interactions for quantum optical devices in the solid state

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive analytic framework for modeling solid-state quantum optical devices, enabling better understanding and design of quantum light-matter interactions with realistic imperfections.

Contribution

It introduces a photon-number decomposition approach to analyze Markovian light-matter interactions in solid-state quantum systems, accounting for various realistic imperfections.

Findings

Effective modeling of indistinguishable single-photon sources

Analysis of entangled photonic state generation

Simulation of entangling gates with imperfections

Abstract

The desire to understand the interaction between light and matter has stimulated centuries of research, leading to technological achievements that have shaped our world. One contemporary frontier of research into light-matter interaction considers regimes where quantum effects dominate. By understanding and manipulating these quantum effects, a vast array of new quantum-enhanced technologies become accessible. In this thesis, I explore and analyze fundamental components and processes for quantum optical devices with a focus on solid-state quantum systems. This includes indistinguishable single-photon sources, deterministic sources of entangled photonic states, photon-heralded entanglement generation between remote quantum systems, and deterministic optically-mediated entangling gates between local quantum systems. For this analysis, I make heavy use of an analytic quantum trajectories approach applied to a general Markovian master equation of an optically-active quantum system, which I introduce as a photon-number decomposition. This approach allows for many realistic system imperfections, such as emitter pure dephasing, spin decoherence, and measurement imperfections, to be taken into account in a straightforward and comprehensive way.