A source of on-demand single photons for fibre-based quantum information processing applications is highly desirable. To generate single photons at 1.55 mum we use an InAs/InP single quantum dot. Initial measurements to demonstrate the anti-bunched emission from the quantum dot are presented. In order to enhance the emission properties of the quantum dot, it is embedded in a microcavity. A broad variety of micropillar and photonic crystal microcavities are explored in order to find an optimized design to enhance the emission through the Purcell factor. Also, the microcavity output mode has to be suitable to funnel the emitted photons to a communication channel. The microcavity design properties are evaluated by measuring the escaping photons from the embedded high density layer of quantum dots or through complete three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulations. A "champion" design using a photonic crystal microcavity is shown to fulfill all the requirements. Record breaking microcavity quality factor (28 000) for an InP-based microcavity is demonstrated. A digital etching technique to tune the photonic crystal microcavity after fabrication is demonstrated. Repetitive removal of an oxide layer formed on the InP with wet chemistry enlarges the photonic crystal holes and reduces the InP layer thickness. Silica nanowire evanescent field coupling is used to probe the mode structure of a microcavity, allowing the extraction of single photons and tuning of the microcavity mode wavelength.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/29725 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Frederick, Simon |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 202 p. |
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