Researchers at NIST have developed a new method to make photons emitted by quantum dots indistinguishable by shifting their frequencies to match. This “quantum frequency conversion” technique could make solid-state, single photon sources more useful for photonic quantum information science.
The team demonstrated that photons from quantum dots at different frequencies can be converted to the same frequency using a nonlinear crystal and two pump lasers. This process, which uses two-photon interference to confirm the photons’ identity, is a significant step forward in developing solid-state, single photon sources.
The next step is to implement the conversion method in smaller, more scalable device architectures. This breakthrough has the potential to improve the performance and scalability of photonic quantum information science.
Keywords: quantum, photons, frequency, conversion, dot
