A quantum dot single-photon source with on-the-fly all-optical polarization control and timed emission

Sources of single photons are key elements for applications in quantum information science. Among the different sources available, semiconductor quantum dots excel with their integrability in semiconductor on-chip solutions and the potential that photon emission can be triggered on demand. Usually, the photon is emitted from a single-exciton ground state. Polarization of the photon and time of emission are either probabilistic or pre-determined by electronic properties of the system. Here, we study the direct two-photon emission from the biexciton. The two-photon emission is enabled by a laser pulse driving the system into a virtual state inside the band gap. From this intermediate state, the single photon of interest is then spontaneously emitted. We show that emission through this higher-order transition provides a versatile approach to generate a single photon. Through the driving laser pulse, polarization state, frequency and emission time of the photon can be controlled on-the-fly. Single photon sources are important for applications in quantum information. Here, the authors exploit higher-order transitions from a biexciton state to the ground state of a semiconductor quantum dot to emit single photons with all-optical control of their frequency, polarization and emission time.