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Ultra-bright light: A new source of quantum light

Date:
March 7, 2016
Source:
CNRS
Summary:
A new ultra-bright source of single photons - 15 times brighter than commonly used sources and emitting photons that are 99.5% indistinguishable from one another - has been developed.
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A new ultra-bright source of single photons -- 15 times brighter than commonly used sources and emitting photons that are 99.5% indistinguishable from one another -- has been developed by researchers from the CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, and Université Paris-Sud.[1]

This feat was achieved thanks to the nanometrically-precise positioning of a quantum dot[2] within an optical microcavity. Adding an electrical control to the device helped reduce the "noise" around the quantum dot, which generally renders photons different from one another.

Obtained in collaboration with researchers from Brisbane (Australia), these results make it possible to conduct quantum computing of unprecedented complexity, a first step toward the creation of optical quantum computers. The results will be published in Nature Photonics on March 7, 2016.

[1] The French laboratories involved are the Laboratoire de photonique et nanostructures (LPN-CNRS), and the Institut Néel (CNRS). PhD students from the Université Paris-Sud and Université Grenoble Alpes have contributed to this study. Pascale Senellart is also an academic at the École polytechnique.

[2] Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals whose dimensions are typically 20 nanometers (20 billionths of a meter). By virtue of their size, they serve as a potential well which confines the charge carriers in the three dimensions of space, i.e. a few dozen nanometers in a semiconductor. This confinement gives quantum dots properties close to those of a unique atom.


Story Source:

Materials provided by CNRS. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. N. Somaschi, V. Giesz, L. De Santis, J. C. Loredo, M. P. Almeida, G. Hornecker, S. L. Portalupi, T. Grange, C. Antón, J. Demory, C. Gómez, I. Sagnes, N. D. Lanzillotti-Kimura, A. Lemaítre, A. Auffeves, A. G. White, L. Lanco, P. Senellart. Near-optimal single-photon sources in the solid state. Nature Photonics, 2016; DOI: 10.1038/Nphoton.2016.23

Cite This Page:

CNRS. "Ultra-bright light: A new source of quantum light." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 March 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160307113945.htm>.
CNRS. (2016, March 7). Ultra-bright light: A new source of quantum light. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160307113945.htm
CNRS. "Ultra-bright light: A new source of quantum light." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160307113945.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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