Photon-number discrimination using a semiconductor quantum dot, optically gated, field-effect transistor

摘要

We demonstrate photon-number discrimination using a novel semiconductor detector that utilizes a layer of self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) as an optically addressable floating gate in a GaAs/AlGaAs δ-doped field-effect transistor. When the QDOGFET (quantum dot, optically gated, field-effect transistor) is illuminated, the internal gate field directs the holes generated in the dedicated absorption layer of the structure to the QDs, where they are trapped. The positively charged holes are confined to the dots and screen the internal gate field, causing a persistent change in the channel current that is proportional to the total number of holes trapped in the QD ensemble. We use highly attenuated laser pulses to characterize the response of the QDOGFET cooled to 4 K. We demonstrate that different photon-number states produce well resolved changes in the channel current, where the responses of the detector reflect the Poisson statistics of the laser light. For a mean photon number of 1.1, we show that decision regions can be defined such that the QDOGFET determines the number (0, 1, 2, or ≥ 3) of detected photons with a probability of accuracy ≥ 83 % in a single-shot measurement.