Indistinguishable single photons from a single-quantum-dot microcavity

摘要

A single-photon device based on a semiconductor quantum dot embedded in an optical microcavity is described. The spontaneous emission lifetime, multi-photon suppression, and spectral linewidth are measured. It is then shown that consecutively emitted photons possess a large degree of quantum-mechanical indistinguishability, with a mean wave-packet overlap as large as 0.8. This demonstration is accomplished through a Hong-Ou-Mandel-type two-photon interference experiment.