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Vollrath M. Axt

Publications and source records attributed to Vollrath M. Axt.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Robust biexciton preparation for entangled photon-pair generation by single-shot Floquet driving

Quantum emitters driven by resonant two-photon excitation are a leading source for deterministically generated entangled photon pairs, essential for scalable photonic quantum technologies. However, conventional excitation schemes pose various constraints, limiting their scalability and practicability. Here, we demonstrate how biexciton preparation schemes with significantly improved robustness and reduced experimental demands can be identified using a novel design principle: ultrafast single-shot Floquet driving. This is achieved by employing two strongly and symmetrically detuned dichromatic pulses, whose superposition generates a stroboscopic Hamiltonian that enables direct coupling between ground and biexciton states. Moreover, a pulse delay serves as a tuning knob, introducing an effective magnetic field making biexciton preparation particularly robust. Experimentally, we achieve a biexciton occupation exceeding 96% and preserve photon-pair entanglement with a fidelity of 93.4%. Our work opens avenues for designing a class of quantum control protocols with superior performance across diverse quantum emitters and qubit platforms.

quant-ph↗

Photon Number Coherence of a Quantum Dot-Cavity System Excited Using the SUPER Scheme

To fulfill the security requirements of quantum cryptography, photon number coherence (PNC) of single photon sources has recently become an important figure of merit. Quantum dots (QDs) embedded in photonic microcavities offer a mature source of single photons, of which many properties can be tuned by the use of different excitation protocols or parameters. We show that the Swing-UP of quantum EmitteR population (SUPER) scheme can significantly decrease the PNC of the emitted photon, compared to resonant excitation. The reason for this is a laser-induced Stark shift, which effectively decouples the QD from the cavity during the SUPER excitation. Our calculations account for environmental effects such as phonons and radiative losses.

quant-ph↗

Photon Number Coherence in Quantum Dot-Cavity Systems can be Enhanced by Phonons

Semiconductor quantum dots are a versatile source of single photons with tunable properties to be used in quantum-cryptographic applications. A crucial figure of merit of the emitted photons is photon number coherence (PNC), which impacts the security of many quantum communication protocols. In the process of single-photon generation, the quantum dot as a solid-state object is subject to an interaction with phonons, which can therefore indirectly affect the PNC. In this paper, we elaborate on the origin of PNC in optically excited quantum dots and how it is affected by phonons. In contrast to the expectation that phonons always deteriorate coherence, PNC can be increased in a quantum dot-cavity system due to the electron-phonon interaction.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Keeping the photon in the dark: Enabling full quantum dot control by chirped pulses and magnetic fields

Because dark excitons in quantum dots are not directly optically accessible, so far they have not played a significant role in using quantum dots for photon generation. They possess significantly longer lifetimes than their brighter counterparts and hence offer enormous potential for photon storage or manipulation. In this work, we demonstrate an all-optical storage and retrieval of the spin-forbidden dark exciton in a quantum dot from the ground state employing chirped pulses and an in-plane magnetic field. Our experimental findings are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions of the dynamics calculated using state-of-the-art product tensor methods. Our scheme enables an all-optical control of dark states without relying on any preceding decays. This opens up a new dimension for optimal quantum control and time-bin entangled photon pair generation from quantum dots.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗