Reversible tuning of nanowire quantum dot to atomic transitions

TL;DR

This paper presents a reversible, high-precision tuning method for nanowire quantum dot emission frequencies, enabling integration with atomic systems and preserving photon properties, advancing quantum photonics applications.

Contribution

The authors introduce a gas condensation and laser ablation technique for reversible, sub-GHz precision tuning of NW-QD emission frequencies without degrading photon quality.

Findings

Achieved over 300 GHz tuning range with sub-GHz precision.

Demonstrated tuning across atomic resonances with minimal impact on photon properties.

Observed significant absorption and group velocity changes in hot caesium vapour.

Abstract

Quantum dots embedded in semiconductor photonic nanowires (NW-QDs) can deterministically produce single-photons and entangled photon pairs at high repetition rates. These photons can be efficiently coupled from the photonic nanowire into free space or optical fibers thanks to the sharp tip of the nanowire, which provides impedance matching. However, precise control of the NW-QD emission frequency in a way that is reversible, does not degrade the properties of the emitted photons, and can be used independently for individual NW-QDs on the same chip has so far remained a challenge. Resolving this issue is crucial for applications when interfacing the photons with quantum systems that require MHz to sub-GHz precision, such as atomic ensembles acting as memories in a quantum network. Here, we demonstrate a reversible tuning method that can tune the emission frequency of a NW-QD by more than 300 GHz with sub-GHz precision. We achieve this through gas condensation that is then partially reversed with localized laser ablation. This process finely adjusts stress applied to the quantum dots, thereby tuning their emission frequency. We validate the precision and stability of this method by tuning the frequency of the emitted single-photons across an atomic resonance to probe its absorption and dispersion. We observed up to 80\% absorption of the single-photons from NW-QD in hot caesium vapour at the D1-line resonances and a 75-fold decrease in group velocity associated with the hyperfine transitions of the D1-line ground states. We observed no discernible effects in the second-order autocorrelation function, lifetime, or linewidth of the NW-QD emission for up to 300 GHz of tuning and we saw minimal effects on the fine structure splitting of the NW-QD when tuning up to 100 GHz.