Deterministic Quantum Devices for Optical Quantum Communication

Abstract

Photonic quantum technologies are based on the exchange of information via single photons. The information is typically encoded in the polarization of the photons and security is ensured intrinsically via principles of quantum mechanics such as the no-cloning theorem. Thus, all optical quantum communication networks rely crucially on the availability of suitable quantum-light sources. Such light sources with close to ideal optical and quantum optical properties can be realized by self-assembled semiconductor quantum dots. These high-quality nanocrystals are predestined single-photon emitters due to their quasi zero-dimensional carrier confinement. Still, the development of practical quantum-dot-based sources of single photons and entangled-photon pairs for applications in photonic quantum technology and especially for the quantum-repeater scheme is very demanding and requires highly advanced device concepts and deterministic fabrication technologies. This is mainly explained by their random position and emission energy as well as by the low photon-extraction efficiency in simple planar device configurations.