Realization of linear quantum computation and establishing secure quantum communication among interacting parties demand for triggered quantum sources delivering genuine single and entangled photons. However, the intrinsic energy level spectrum of nanostructures made by the nature or developed under a random growth process energetically lacks the expected figures of merit to produce such quantized states of photons. Here, I present the semi-empirical modeling and experimental investigation on the spin fine structure of strongly confining quantum dots embedded in III-V nanowires. To this end, the quantum dot is numerically modeled via the Configuration Interaction method at two different levels: 1) single-particle level, where its pure energy level structure is resolved in the presence of strain and spin-orbit interaction. 2) Few-particle level, at which the few-body interactions appear as perturbative energy corrections and orbital correlations. I demonstrate the influence of quantum confinement on the binding energies and spin fine structure of excitons in the absence of hyperfine interaction. Importantly, the high-symmetry character of excitonic orbitals in nanowire quantum dots restore the degeneracy of optically-active ground-state excitons, offering an ideal spectrum for the entangled photon pair generation. To experimentally verify the idea, we design and fabricate defect-free nanowire quantum dots with ultra-clean excitonic spectrum, and construct the time correlation function of emitted photons through performing a series of low-temperature statistical quantum optics measurements. We observe a decent performance in terms of single photon generation under low excitation powers. Moreover, photon pairs emitted from the biexciton-exciton cascade of nanowire quantum dots exhibit color indistinguishability and polarization entanglement owing to the trivial fine structure splitting of the ground-state excitons. We further extend the idea by proposing the hybridized states of a nanowire-based quantum dot molecule as the potential source of higher-order entangled states. Tracing the field-dependent spectrum suggests the appearance of dominant features under the weak localization of electrons and coherent tunneling of holes. In addition to their Coulomb correlation, excitons also remain spatially correlated, opening new transition channels normally forbidden in the ground state of a single dot. The proposed structure can be exploited to create tripartite hybrid, GHZ and W-entangled states.

This thesis describes the search for neutrino-production of single photons using the off-axis near detector at 280 metres (ND280) of the T2K experiment. A photon selection is used to perform the searches using the first Fine Grained Detector (FGD1) of the ND280. The thesis also highlights the importance of systematic uncertainties in the analysis, since the selection is background dominated. After careful characterisation of the systematic uncertainties and estimation of the efficiency, it is concluded that, with the selected 39 data events and the expected background of 45 events, the limit for neutrino-induced single photons, at T2K energies, is 0:0903 x 10-38cm2/nucleon. This result can be compared with the expected limit of 0:1068 x 10-38cm2/nucleon. Using ND280's neutrino energy distribution (peaked at 600 MeV), NEUT predicts a flux-averaged cross section of 0:000239 x 10-38cm2/nucleon. A fit to the muon and electron (anti-) neutrinos selections in the ND280 was performed. The aim of this analysis is to use a data-driven method to constrain the electron (anti-) neutrinos background events at SK, the far detector and electron neutrino cross section parameters for oscillation analyses. These are fundamental inputs in the context of the searches for Charge-Parity (CP) violation in the neutrino sector. After a fit to the nominal Monte Carlo was realised, the electron neutrino and anti-neutrino cross section normalisation uncertainties are found to be 7.6% and 19.3%, repectively. Although these numbers are much higher than the assumed 3% uncertainty of all the CP violation searches performed at T2K up to now, the difference in the δCP log-likelihood is found to be acceptable as the one sigma contours are not very different and the exclusion of the δCP = 0 is roughly the same.

With increasing parts of the society being digital and quantum computers developing which can break current encryption methods, there is a stronger need for new methods of encryption to ensure safe communication. The Vernam cipher, which is based on key distribution, is an encryption method which can withstand quantum computers. However, for the Vernam cipher to work, the key to decode the messages has to be distributed safely between the two people in contact. Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a possible way to distribute this key and therefore to ensure secure communication based on fundamental quantum mechanical principles. This thesis studies the implementation of an optical setup node for an entanglement-based QKD network. The report includes a brief overview of the relevant theory of quantum mechanics and quantum information for understanding the subject of quantum communication. Furthermore, QKD is defined and the two different protocols BB84, which is a prepare-and-measure QKD protocol together with E91, an entanglement based QKD protocol, is described. The node is implemented using polarizers, mirrors, beamsplitters, polarizing beamsplitters, waveplates, single-mode fibers and detectors. The purpose is to take a photon with an arbitrary polarization state and divide it into four different photons, each going into detectors measuring the intensity of H, V, D respectively A polarization. The result shows that the implemented setup has to be modified to be able to be used in a real single-photon QKD network. This mainly depends on large intensity losses in the beamsplitters but also that the fiber coupling needs to be increased. Two examples of how this can be done is realigning the components in the setup or increasing the degrees of freedom for the light entering the single-mode fibers connected to the detectors.

Nanometer-sized semiconductor crystals, termed ‘quantum dots’, are of fundamental interest because of their size-tunable properties. Three-dimensional quantum confinement of charge carriers by the small crystal size results in discrete atomic-like electronic states. This dissertation describes the synthesis and in-depth characterization of lead chalcogenide colloidal quantum dots for forthcoming applications as near-infrared single photon emitters. An efficient single photon source that operates at telecommunication wavelengths (between 1.3 and 1.6 µm) is a basic requirement for many photonic quantum technologies, such as quantum computing and quantum cryptography. Chapters 1 and 2 of this work provide an introduction to colloidal quantum dots and their use as single photon emitters. It includes a description of photonic crystal microcavities and their ability to enhance the spontaneous emission rate of quantum dots. The synthesis and basic characterization of PbSe and PbS quantum dots is then discussed in chapter 3. In particular, a new synthetic method for the preparation of highly photoluminescent PbS quantum dots is presented. PbSe/CdSe core/shell quantum dots prepared by a cation exchange reaction are also described and a significant improvement in photo-stability is shown. Chapter 3 concludes with a description of three different surface modification techniques. PbSe core and PbSe/CdSe core/shell materials are investigated further in chapter 4 by advanced characterization techniques that include high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) imaging, energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EF-TEM) imaging, energy-dependent X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and small angle neutron scattering (SANS). The information obtained from these techniques is combined to form a structural model of the PbSe core and PbSe/CdSe core/shell quantum dots with greater complexity than previously reported. In chapter 5, the temperature-dependent photoluminescence from PbSe and PbSe/CdSe core/shell quantum dots is discussed and a thermal model is presented that accounts for the large (non-trivial) temperature dependence of the Stokes shift and photoluminescence lineshape over the entire temperature range (4.5 to 295 K). Chapter 6 examines two scalable methods to integrate the colloidal quantum dots into silicon two-dimensional photonic crystal slab microcavities (a requirement for efficient single photon emission). Finally, conclusions and possible future work are discussed in chapter 7. / Graduate

Cavity quantum electrodynamics (cavity QED) with single atoms and single photons provides a promising route toward scalable quantum information processing (QIP) and computing. A strongly coupled atom-cavity system should act as a universal quantum interface, allowing the generation and storage of quantum information. This thesis describes the realisation of an atom-cavity system used for the production and manipulation of single photons. These photons are shown to exhibit strong sub-Poissonian statistics and indistinguishability, both prerequisites for their use in realistic quantum systems. Further, the ability to control the temporal shape and internal phase of the photons, as they are generated in the cavity, is demonstrated. This high degree of control presents a novel mechanism enabling the creation of arbitrary photonic quantum bits.

Des nanofils de ZnSe catalysés avec de l'or ont été synthétisés pour la première fois sur pseudo-substrats de ZnSe déposé sur GaAs. La nucléation de l'or a été étuidiée en détails. Des nanoparticules d'or de diamètres homogènes ont été produites. Ces nanoparticules conduisent à la création de nanofils de diamètres de l'ordre des diamètres de Bohr des excitons dans le ZnSe et dans le CdSe. Les très basses densités de nanoparticules d'or obtenues permettent la croissance de nanofils de ZnSe dans un mode non-compétitif. La croissance a été étudiée en fonction de la variation de certains paramètres. Un rapport de flux élevé de Se:Zn~4, ainsi qu'une température aux alentours des 400C donnent lieu aux nanofils les plus droits. Les nanofils résultant de ces conditions sur ZnSe (001) s'orientent selon deux axes. La vitesse de croissance des nanofils peut être modélisée par la diffusion d'adatoms vers l'interface de croissance du nanofil. Il est démontré à l'aide d'observations RHEED que la croissance se déroule dans un mode vapeur-solide-solide (VSS), c'est à dire, avec un catalyseur à l'état solide. Une croissance dans le mode ALE produit des nanofils orientés selon un seul axe. L'incorporation de BQ de CdSe à été étudiée en détails par le biais de plusieurs techniques expérimentales. Il est possible d'obtenir des BQ de CdZnSe de quelques nanomètres de long, avec des hétérojonctions abruptes et contenant aux alentours de 50% de Cd. L'étude optique de ces BQ montre de fines raies excitoniques. L'émission de photons uniques a été mesurée sur la raie biexcitonique jusqu'à la température ambiante. À cause de la présence d'une émission discrète du substrat des nanofils, ceux-ci doivent être transférés sur un substrat non-luminescent pour les études optiques. / Growth of Au-catalysed ZnSe NWs has been successfully achieved on ZnSe peudo-substrates grown on GaAs substrate for the 1st time. Nucleation of the gold catalyst nanoparticles was studied in details. Au nanoparticles with homogeneous diameters are achieved. The nanowire diameter that results from these nanoparticles is in the range of the Bohr diameter of excitons in ZnSe and CdSe. Ultralow density achieved for Au nanoparticles makes it possible to grow nanowires in a non-competitive mode. Study of the influence of the growth parameters was done in details. A high Se:Zn~4 flux ratio and a growth temperature in the low 400C range are found to yield the straightest NWs. Homogeneous NWs with two main orientations are obtained on (001) ZnSe. The nanowire growth rate can be modeled by a kinetic mass-transport model of impinging adatoms flowing to the nanowire growth front. ZnSe NW growth was identified as taking place in the VSS mode, that is, with a solid catalyst, by in-situ RHEED observations. A growth of NWs by ALE yields only a single NW orientation. Incorporation of CdSe QDs was studied in details with numerous experimental techniques. It is possible to obtain CdZnSe QDs with a length of a few nanometers with compositionally sharp heterojunctions and a composition in Cd of about 50%. The optical study of such NWs shows sharp excitonic lines. Single photon emission on the biexciton was measured up to room temperature. A limitation comes from the fact that the NWs must be detached from the surface to be studied due to the presence of a discreet background emission originating from the substrate.

Cette étude évalue le potentiel, comme détecteur de rayons X, des capteurs à pixel CMOS conçus pour la trajectométrie des particules chargée. Nous démontrons l’intérêt de la construction d’une image par comptage de photons uniques pour la définition de celle-ci. Un dispositif exploitant une source X est développé pour mesurer la résolution spatiale sur l’impact des photons. Une simulation complète sous GEANT4 montre que le système permet d’estimer cette résolution avec une incertitude de 2 µm. L’application du protocole caractérise la détection directe des rayons X de basse énergie (< 10 keV) par un capteur CMOS avec une résolution de 52 lp/mm. Une méthode de détection indirecte, couplant un cristal de CsI(Tl) finement segmenté au capteur CMOS, est employée pour les énergies supérieures à 10 keV. La résolution spatiale dans ces conditions atteint 15 lp/mm. Une simulation détaillée explique cette performance limitée par les caractéristiques d’émission de lumière du cristal employé. / This work investigates the potential application of CMOS pixel sensors, designed for particle tracking, for the detection of X rays. We explain how the image definition can be improved exploiting the single photon counting technique. An experimental system, based on an X ray source, is developed to measure the single point resolution of photons. Thanks to a full GEANT4 simulation of the device, the evaluation uncertainty is predicted to be 2 µm. We apply our method to the direct detection of low energy (< 10 keV) X rays by a CMOS pixel to measure a spatial resolution of 52 lp/mm. For higher energies, an hybrid device, coupling a CSi(Tl) highly segmented crystal with a CMOS sensor, is used. The spatial resolution reaches in this case 15 lp/mm. A detailed simulation study demonstrated that this limited performance is related to the characteristics of the light emitted by the crystal.

Dans le cadre de l’étude expérimentale des états quantiques intriqués de particules uniques, il est nécessaire de développer des systèmes compacts, robustes et polyvalents. Motivés par la miniaturisation, la stabilité et la flexibilité apportées par les fibres optiques, nous présentons deux expériences où les fibres optiques servent d’interfaces pour piéger des atomes uniques et collecter les photons uniques émis. Dans un premier temps, en combinant une fibre optique monomode avec une lentille asphérique, un faisceau dipolaire permet de piéger un atome de rubidium unique par blocage collisionnel. Le refroidissement et le taux de pertes par collisions assistées par la lumière dans le piège dipolaire sont augmentés via une modulation de l’intensité du faisceau dipolaire dont l’effet sur la durée de vie de l’atome est expliqué. Une source fibrée de photons uniques à la demande est obtenue avec ce dispositif, produisant des photons dans un mode spatial et temporel à priori bien défini. Dans un second temps, nous présentons la conception d’une expérience couplant optimalement une chaîne d’atomes uniques piégés à une cavité Fabry-Pérot fibrée combinée avec une lentille à forte ouverture numérique pour imager et adresser les atomes individuellement. Un dispositif d’ablation laser de précision submicrométrique est alors construit pour réaliser et analyser in situ les formes de miroirs voulues à l’extrémité des fibres optiques. Nous présentons ensuite les cavités fibrées doublement résonantes avec une biréfringence contrôlée réalisées. Nous décrivons également le système expérimental construit pour la production rapide d’un nuage d’atomes froids et leur transport vers la cavité. / The experimental study of entangled quantum states of single particle ensembles requires development of compact, robust and versatile systems. Motivated by miniaturization, stability and flexibility provided by optical fibers as light wave-guides, we present two experiments where optical fibers are used as interfaces for single atoms trapping and single photons collection into their guided modes. The first experiment combines a single mode fiber with an aspherical lens to produce a dipolar beam in which we trap a single rubidium atom by collisional blockade. This fiber-pigtailed optical tweezer is a simple, compact and versatile tool for single cold atom production. Cooling and light-assisted collisional loss rate in the dipole trap are increased by modulating the dipole beam intensity. The modulation and beam polarization effects on atom lifetime are presented and explained. With this setup, we realized a triggered single photon source, whose photons have a priori well defined spatial and spectral mode due to the optical fiber and the atomic transition.In a second part, we present the design of an experiment which optimally couples a trapped single atom register to a fiber Fabry-Pérot cavity and where a high numerical aperture lens allows for individual imaging and addressing. A sub-micron precision laser ablation setup is built to create and to analyze in situ desired mirror shapes on optical fiberend faces. Then, we present the produced double resonant fiber cavities with controlled birefringence. Eventually, we describe the created experimental setup for fast cold atom cloud production and transport towards the cavity.

One of today’s challenges to realise computing based on quantum mechanics is to reliably and scalably encode information in quantum systems. Here, we present a photon source to on-demand deliver photonic quantum bits of information based on a strongly coupled atom-cavity system. The source operates intermittently for periods of up to 100 <i>μ</i>s, with a single-photon repetition rate of 1 MHz, and an intra-cavity production efficiency of up to 85%. Our ability to arbitrarily control the photons’ wavepackets and phase profiles, together with long coherence times of 500 ns, allows to store time-bin encoded quantum information within a single photon. To do so, the spatio-temporal envelope of a single photon is sub-divided in d time bins which allows for the delivery of arbitrary qu-d-its. This is done with a fidelity of > 95% for qubits, and 94% for qutrits verified using a newly developed time-resolved quantum-homodyne measurement technique. Additionally, we combine two separate fields of quantum physics by using our deterministic single-photon source to seed linear optics quantum computing (LOQC) circuits. As a step towards quantum networking, it is shown that this photon source can be combined with quantum gates, namely a chip-integrated beam splitter, a controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate as well as a CNOT4 gate. We use this CNOT4 gate to entangle photons deterministically emitted from our source and observe non-classical correlations between events separated by periods exceeding the travel time across the chip by three orders of magnitude. Additionally, we use time-bin encoded qubits to systematically study the de- and re-phasing of quantum states as well as the the effects of time-varying internal phases in photonic quantum circuits.

Les phénomènes quantiques les plus fondamentaux comme la cohérence quantique et l’intrication sont aujourd'hui explorés pour réaliser de nouvelles technologies. C'est le domaine des technologies quantiques, qui promettent de révolutionner le calcul, la communication et la métrologie. En encodant l'information dans les systèmes quantiques, il serait possible de résoudre des problèmes inaccessibles aux ordinateurs classiques, de garantir une sécurité absolue dans les communications et de développer des capteurs dépassant les limites classiques de précision. Les photons uniques, en tant que vecteurs d'information quantique, ont acquis un rôle central dans ce domaine, car ils peuvent être manipulés facilement et être utilisés pour mettre en œuvre de nombreux protocoles quantiques. Pour cela, il est essentiel de développer des interfaces très efficaces entre les photons et les systèmes quantiques matériels, tels les atomes uniques, une fonctionnalité fondamentale à la fois pour la génération et la manipulation des photons. La réalisation de tels systèmes dans l'état solide permettrait de fabriquer des dispositifs quantiques intégrés et à large échelle. Dans ce travail de thèse, nous étudions l'interface lumière-matière réalisée par une boîte quantique unique, utilisée comme un atome artificiel, couplée de façon déterministe à une cavité de type micropilier. Un tel dispositif s'avère être un émetteur et un récepteur efficace de photons uniques, et il est utilisé ici pour implémenter des fonctionnalités quantiques de base. Tout d'abord, sous une excitation optique résonante, nous montrons comment nos composants sont des sources très brillantes de photons uniques. L’accélération de l'émission spontanée de la boîte quantique dans la cavité et le contrôle électrique de la structure permettent de générer des photons très indiscernables avec une très haute brillance. Cette nouvelle génération de sources de photons uniques peut être utilisée pour générer des états de photons intriqués en chemin appelés états NOON. Ces états intriqués sont des ressources importantes pour la détection de phase optique, mais leur caractérisation optique a été peu étudiée jusqu’à présent. Nous présentons une nouvelle méthode de tomographie pour caractériser les états de NOON encodés en chemin et implémentons expérimentalement cette méthode dans le cas de deux photons. Enfin, nous étudions le comportement de nos composants comme filtres non-linéaires de lumière. L'interface optimale entre la lumière et la boîte quantique permet l'observation d'une réponse optique non-linéaire au niveau d'un seul photon incident. Cet effet est utilisé pour démontrer le filtrage des états Fock à un seul photon à partir d’impulsions classiques incidentes. Ceci ouvre la voie à la réalisation efficace d’interactions effectives entre deux photons dans un système à l’état solide, une étape fondamentale pour surmonter les limitations dues au fonctionnement probabilistes des portes optiques linéaires. / Quantum phenomena can nowadays be engineered to realize fundamentally new applications. This is the field of quantum technology, which holds the promise of revolutionizing computation, communication and metrology. By encoding the information in quantum mechanical systems, it appears to be possible to solve classically intractable problems, achieve absolute security in distant communications and beat the classical limits for precision measurements. Single photons as quantum information carriers play a central role in this field, as they can be easily manipulated and can be used to implement many quantum protocols. A key aspect is the interfacing between photons and matter quantum systems, a fundamental operation both for the generation and the readout of the photons. This has been driving a lot of research toward the realization of efficient atom-cavity systems, which allows the deterministic and reversible transfer of the information between the flying photons and the optical transition of a stationary atom. The realization of such systems in the solid-state gives the possibility of fabricating integrated and scalable quantum devices. With this objective, in this thesis work, we study the light-matter interface provided by a single semiconductor quantum dot, acting as an artificial atom, deterministically coupled to a micropillar cavity. Such a device is shown to be an efficient emitter and receiver of single photons, and is used to implement basic quantum functionalities.First, under resonant optical excitation, the device is shown to act as a very bright source of single photons. The strong acceleration of the spontaneous emission in the cavity and the electrical control of the structure, allow generating highly indistinguishable photons with a record brightness. This new generation of single photon sources can be used to generate path entangled NOON states. Such entangled states are important resources for sensing application, but their full characterizatiob has been scarcely studied. We propose here a novel tomography method to fully characterize path entangled N00N state and experimentally demonstrate the method to derive the density matrix of a two-photon path entangled state. Finally, we study the effect of the quantum dot-cavity device as a non-linear filter. The optimal light matter interface achieved here leads to the observation of an optical nonlinear response at the level of a single incident photon. This effect is used to demonstrate the filtering of single photon Fock state from classical incident light pulses. This opens the way towards the realization of efficient photon-photon effective interactions in the solid state, a fundamental step to overcome the limitations arising from the probabilistic operations of linear optical gates that are currently employed in quantum computation and communication.