High brightness single photon sources based on photonic wires

Abstract

We present a novel single-photon-source based on the emission of a semiconductor quantum dot embedded in a single-mode photonic wire. This geometry ensures a very large coupling (> 95%) of the spontaneous emission to the guided mode. Numerical simulations show that a photon collection efficiency as large as 90% can be obtained for engineered nanowires with a tapered tip and a metallic bottom mirror coated by a thin dielectric layer. Experimentally, a record-high efficiency of 75 ±; 10% (for a NA = 0.75 collection optics) has been measured for an InAs quantum dot embedded in such a nanowire, made of GaAs and defined by reactive-ion etching. ©2009 IEEE.