Highly manufacturable structures for efficient extraction of single photon emission from telecom O-band quantum dots

  • Huili Hou

Student thesis: Doctoral ThesisDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Abstract

A high-efficiency single photon source (SPS) emitting photons at the telecom O-band or C-band has minimum transmission loss in the silica-based optical fibres, thus is essential in applications such as quantum communication and quantum teleportation. This thesis explores the possibilities of developing such a SPS based on quantum dots (QDs).

First, Tamm-based photonic cavities are designed and optimised for extracting the telecom-wavelength photons emitted by the QDs from the high-refractive-index matrix materials using electromagnetic modelling techniques. The optimal confined Tamm structure has been found to have an extraction efficiency of 18\%, and is potentially robust against fabrication errors and suitable for scalable production. In addition, a novel confined Tamm structure with an aperture has been proposed, which is predicted to further improve the extraction efficiency by a factor of 2.

Second, a potential QD-SPS, InGaAs-capped InAs QD, which can emit photons at the telecom O-band are investigated experimentally by optical measurements. The wavelength and linewidth distribution of the QD emission lines are characterised, and the exciton and biexciton lines are successfully isolated. In addition, the effects of photonic cavities, such as microcavities and confined Tamm structures, on these QD emissions are studied. The measured mode wavelength, photoluminescence intensity, and quality factor are in broad agreement with the simulation results. Remarkably, we observed single emission lines from the QDs emitting at telecom O-band coupled to confined Tamm mode.

Finally, a new promising QD platform, the bismuth-incorporated InAs QD, which can potentially further extend the emission wavelength to the telecom C-band, is also investigated. The emission lines from these QDs are observed and characterised for the first time. We find that with 1\% Bi incorporated, the emission wavelength is close to the telecom window, and the linewidth is comparable with the regular InAs QDs.
Date of Award27 Sept 2022
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • University of Bristol
SupervisorEdmund G H Harbord (Supervisor) & Ruth Oulton (Supervisor)

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