Wavelength-tunable sources of entangled photons interfaced with atomic vapours.
Trotta R1, Martín-Sánchez J1, Wildmann JS1, Piredda G2, Reindl M1, Schimpf C1, Zallo E3,4, Stroj S2, Edlinger J2, Rastelli A1.
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Abstract
The prospect of using the quantum nature of light for secure communication keeps spurring the search and investigation of suitable sources of entangled photons. A single semiconductor quantum dot is one of the most attractive, as it can generate indistinguishable entangled photons deterministically and is compatible with current photonic-integration technologies. However, the lack of control over the energy of the entangled photons is hampering the exploitation of dissimilar quantum dots in protocols requiring the teleportation of quantum entanglement over remote locations. Here we introduce quantum dot-based sources of polarization-entangled photons whose energy can be tuned via three-directional strain engineering without degrading the degree of entanglement of the photon pairs. As a test-bench for quantum communication, we interface quantum dots with clouds of atomic vapours, and we demonstrate slow-entangled photons from a single quantum emitter. These results pave the way towards the implementation of hybrid quantum networks where entanglement is distributed among distant parties using optoelectronic devices.
PMID: 26815609 PMCID: PMC4737804 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10375
