On chip scalable highly pure and indistinguishable single photon sources in ordered arrays: Path to Quantum Optical Circuits

Abstract: Realization of quantum optical circuits is at the heart of quantum photonic information processing. A long-standing obstacle however has been the absence of a platform of single photon sources (SPSs) that simultaneously satisfies the following required characteristics: spatially ordered SPS arrays that produce, on-demand, highly pure, and indistinguishable single photons with sufficiently uniform emission characteristics across the array, needed for controlled interference between photons from distinct sources to enable functional quantum optical networks. Here we report on such a platform of SPSs based upon a novel class of epitaxial quantum dots. Under resonant excitation, the SPSs (without Purcell enhancement) show single photon purity >99% (g(2)(0) ~ 0.015), high two-photon Hong-Ou-Mandel interference visibilities of 0.82 $\pm$ 0.03 (at 11.5K), and spectral nonuniformity <3nm - within established locally tunable technology. Our platform of SPSs paves the path to creating on-chip scalable quantum photonic systems.