On-demand semiconductor source of 780 nm single photons with controlled temporal wave packets

Abstract

We report on a fast, bandwidth-tunable single-photon source based on an epitaxial GaAs quantum dot. Exploiting spontaneous spin-flip Raman transitions, single photons at $780$nm are generated on-demand with tailored temporal profiles of durations exceeding the intrinsic quantum dot lifetime by up to three orders of magnitude. Second-order correlation measurements show a low multi-photon emission probability ($g^2(0)\sim 0.10-0.15$) at a generation rate up to $10$MHz. We observe Raman photons with linewidths as low as $200$MHz, narrow compared to the $1.1$GHz linewidth measured in resonance fluorescence. The generation of such narrow-band single photons with controlled temporal shapes at the rubidium wavelength is a crucial step towards the development of an optimized hybrid semiconductor-atom interface.

8 pages, 4 figures