Generation and transfer of single photons on a photonic crystal chip

Abstract

We present a basic building block of a quantum network consisting of a quantum dot coupled to a source cavity, which in turn is coupled to a target cavity via a waveguide. The single photon emission from the high-Q/V source cavity is characterized by twelve-fold spontaneous emission (SE) rate enhancement, SE coupling efficiency β ∼ 0.98 into the source cavity mode, and mean wavepacket indistinguishability of ∼67%. Single photons are efficiently transferred into the target cavity via the waveguide, with a target/source field intensity ratio of 0.12 ± 0.01. This system shows great promise as a building block of future on-chip quantum information processing systems.