SUPER Scheme in Action: Experimental Demonstration of Red-detuned Excitation of a Quantum Dot

TL;DR

This paper experimentally demonstrates the SUPER scheme, using two red-detuned laser pulses to coherently excite a quantum dot, producing high-quality single photons comparable to resonant excitation methods.

Contribution

First experimental demonstration of the SUPER scheme showing effective quantum dot excitation with red-detuned pulses, advancing single-photon source development.

Findings

Red-detuned pulses can coherently excite quantum dots.

Single photons have properties comparable to resonant excitation.

The SUPER scheme is effective in quantum dot excitation.

Abstract

The quest for the perfect single-photon source includes finding the optimal protocol for exciting the quantum emitter. Based on a recently proposed, so-called SUPER (swing-up of quantum emitter population) scheme, we demonstrate experimentally that two red-detuned laser pulses, neither of which could yield a significant upper-level population individually, lead to the coherent excitation of a semiconductor quantum dot. We characterize the emitted single photons and show that they have properties comparable to those achieved under resonant excitation schemes.