Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a new method for controlling the timing of single photons emitted by quantum dots. By using commercially available electro-optic modulators, they were able to manipulate the shape and timing of the single photon pulses, making them more suitable for use in quantum information processing applications.
The key innovation was the ability to reduce the modulation timescale to the sub-nanosecond regime, which is necessary for semiconductor quantum dots. This approach could potentially improve the quality of single photons from existing quantum dot sources by selecting for the decoherence-free portion of the emission.
The research has implications for the development of quantum memories and other systems that require stable, on-demand single photon sources. By tailoring the temporal profile of the single photon pulses, researchers can optimize them for specific quantum information processing applications.
Keywords: photons, quantum dots, modulation
