Polariton-based single-photon sources

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Christian Schneider
• Subject Area: Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: from 2015 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 270542009

Single photons with tailored properties are fundamental resources in quantum optics, communication, computing, and metrology. However, creating these photon states is not entirely straightforward, and while there is a variety of methods that achieve this, they all suffer from either the complexity of the setup required or the fact that the system is hardly scalable. A practically viable implementation is thus still missing. In this proposal, we would like to address this problem by experimentally studying the system of microcavity polaritons, which are the coherent superposition of a photon confined to a short cavity, and a quantum well exciton. A flying photon is generated, when the polariton decays. A number of theoretical works have discussed the potential of polaritons for creating quantum-correlated photons, and there are already a couple of experimental demonstrations of quantum effects, such as, first-order correlations, and squeezing. The big advantage of the polariton system over schemes relying on the implementation of individual quantum emitters is its inherent scalability, robustness, and the possibility of tailoring specific properties, such as the wavelength, polarisation, or the temporal attributes of the generated light. In order to achieve the stated goals, we intend to utilise the latest developments in photonic engineering and theoretical semiconductor quantum optics. We propose to study three possible approaches, all based on III-V semiconductor systems. Firstly, we will fabricate submicrometer-sized pillars with integrated quantum well excitons to provide the photonic non-linearity, i.e., the strong photon-photon interaction required for generating the quantum correlations. Secondly, we will exploit the intricate quantum interference between coupled pillars. And third, we will apply a flexible, hybrid approach, where the cavity is tunable even after fabrication. This will allow us to explore a large segment of the parameter space in a time- and cost-efficient manner.Achieving polariton blockade and single photon emission from the proposed quantum well microcavity systems would certainly be a major breakthrough with impacts far beyond the community of polaritonic research. The scheme based on the coupled cavities is especially interesting, since that phenomenon has not experimentally been demonstrated in any physical system. The possibility to create single photons on demand without individual quantum emitters could lead to entirely novel schemes of highly integrated quantum optics on chip, and creating polariton number states could pave the way towards the implementation of quantum emulation schemes based on bosonic quantum fluids in semiconductors.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria, Switzerland
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr. Martin Kamp; Dr. Francesco Manni; Dr. Zoltan Vörös
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Atac Imamoglu; Professor Dr. Gregor Weihs