Photon statistics in quantum dot micropillar emission

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511998331.011

10 - Photon statistics in quantum dot micropillar emission

from Part III - Optical properties of quantum dots in photonic cavities and plasmon-coupled dots

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2012

M. Aβmann and

M. Bayer

Edited by

Alexander Tartakovskii

Show author details

M. Aβmann: Affiliation:
Technische Universität Dortmund, Germany
M. Bayer: Affiliation:
Universität Dortmund, Germany
Alexander Tartakovskii: Affiliation:
University of Sheffield

Book contents

Get access

Summary

Introduction

The ever-growing demand for fast optical data transmission calls for lasers offering high modulation rates and low energy consumption at the same time. Advances in growth and processing methods make quantum dot (QD) based lasers better candidates for this challenge than ever before. Placed in microresonators able to confine light in regions roughly the size of their wavelength, QDs pave the way to ultra-low threshold lasing. The most common resonator geometries aimed at three-dimensional light confinement are microdisks, photonic crystal membrane cavities and micropillars. The latter are especially good candidates for realizing microlasers suitable for applications as they offer directed emission and allow for parallel device processing. However, this increased efficiency also results in modified emission properties of QD lasers [8]. Semiconductor-specific processes like Pauli-blocking of states, the composite nature of the carriers involved and Coulomb interactions between carriers cause deviations from the standard atomistic laser picture. The main aim of our studies is to characterize microlaser emission in terms of photon statistics and coherence properties. Following Glauber, the most detailed description of a light field is given in a series of correlation functions describing coherence in different orders [10].

This chapter is organized as follows. Section 10.2 contains a brief review on the characteristic properties of micropillar lasers and discusses the emission properties of microlasers operated below and above threshold. Section 10.2.1 focuses on photon statistics and the classification of light fields.

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: Quantum Dots
Optics, Electron Transport and Future Applications
, pp. 169 - 184

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511998331.011 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

[1] Aßmann, M., Veit, F., Bayer, M., van der Poel, M. and Hvam, J. M. 2009. Higher-order photon bunching in a semiconductor microcavity. Science, 325(5938), 297.Google Scholar

[2] Aßmann, M., Veit, F., Tempel, J.-S. et al. 2010a. Measuring the dynamics of second-order correlation functions inside a pulse with picosecond time resolution. Opt. Express, 18, 20229.Google Scholar

[3] Aßmann, M., Veit, F., Bayer, M. et al. 2010b. Ultrafast tracking of second-order photon correlations in the emission of quantum-dot microresonator lasers. Phys.Rev.B, 81(16), 165314.Google Scholar

[4] Ates, S., Ulrich, S. M., Ulhaq, A. et al. 2009. Non-resonant dot–cavity coupling and its potential for resonant single-quantum-dot spectroscopy. Nature Photonics, 3, 724–728.Google Scholar

[5] Bayer, M., Reinecke, T. L., Weidner, F. et al. 2001. Inhibition and enhancement of the spontaneous emission of quantum dots in structured microresonators. Phys. Rev. Lett., 86(14), 3168–3171.Google Scholar

[6] Boitier, F., Godard, A., Rosencher, E. and Fabre, C. 2009. Measuring photon bunching at ultrashort timescale by two-photon absorption in semiconductors. Nat. Phys., 5, 267–270.Google Scholar

[7] Gerry, C. C. and Knight, P. L. 2005. Introductory Quantum Optics. First edition. Cambridge University Press.

[8] Gies, C., Wiersig, J., Lorke, M. and Jahnke, F. 2007. Semiconductor model for quantum-dot-based microcavity lasers. Phys.Rev.A, 75(1), 013803.Google Scholar

[9] Gies, C., Wiersig, J. and Jahnke, F. 2008. Output characteristics of pulsed and continuous-wave-excited quantum-dot microcavity lasers. Phys. Rev. Lett., 101(6), 067401.Google Scholar

[10] Glauber, R. J. 1963. Coherent and incoherent states of the radiation field. Phys. Rev., 131(6), 2766–2788.Google Scholar

[11] Hanbury Brown, R. and Twiss, R. Q. 1956. A test of a new type of stellar interferometer on Sirius. Nature, 178, 1046–1048.Google Scholar

[12] Hayat, A., Nevet, A. and Orenstein, M. 2010. Ultrafast partial measurement of fourth-order coherence by HBT interferometry of upconversion-based autocorrelation. Opt. Lett., 35(5), 793–795.Google Scholar

[13] Hennrich, M. 2003. Kontrollierte Erzeugung Einzelner Photonen in Einem Optischen Resonator Hoher Finesse. Ph.D. thesis, TU München.Google Scholar

[14] Laucht, A., Kaniber, M., Mohtashami, A. et al. 2010. Temporal monitoring of non-resonant feeding of semiconductor nanocavity modes by quantum dot multiexciton transitions. Phys.Rev.B, 81(24), 241302.Google Scholar

[15] Li, G., Zhang, T. C., Li, Y. and Wang, J. M. 2005. Photon statistics of light fields based on single-photon-counting modules. Phys. Rev.A, 71(2), 023807.Google Scholar

[16] Lodahl, P., Floris van Driel, A., Nikolaev, I. S. et al. 2004. Controlling the dynamics of spontaneous emission from quantum dots by photonic crystals. Nature, 430, 654–657.Google Scholar

[17] Loudon, R. 2000. The Quantum Theory of Light. Vol. 3. Oxford Science Publications.

[18] Martienssen, W. and Spiller, E. 1964. Coherence and fluctuations in light beams. American Journal of Physics, 32(12), 919–926.Google Scholar

[19] Park, H.-G., Kim, S.-H., Kwon, S.-H. et al. 2004. Electrically driven single-cell photonic crystal laser. Science, 305(5689), 1444–1447.Google Scholar

[20] Purcell, E. M., Torrey, H. C. and Pound, R. V. 1946. Resonance absorption by nuclear magnetic moments in a solid. Phys. Rev., 69(1-2), 37–38.Google Scholar

[21] Reitzenstein, S. and Forchel, A. 2010. Quantum dot micropillars. J. Phys. D: Applied Physics, 43(3), 033001.Google Scholar

[22] Reitzenstein, S., Bazhenov, A., Gorbunov, A. et al. 2006. Lasing in high-Q quantum-dot micropillar cavities. Appl. Phys. Lett., 89(5), 051107.Google Scholar

[23] Rice, P. R. and Carmichael, H. J. 1994. Photon statistics of a cavity-QED laser: a comment on the laser–phase-transition analogy. Phys. Rev.A, 50(5), 4318–4329.Google Scholar

[24] Solomon, G. S., Pelton, M. and Yamamoto, Y. 2001. Single-mode spontaneous emission from a single quantum dot in a three-dimensional microcavity. Phys. Rev. Lett., 86(17), 3903–3906.Google Scholar

[25] Strauf, S., Hennessy, K., Rakher, M. T. et al. 2006. Self-tuned quantum dot gain in photonic crystal lasers. Phys. Rev. Lett., 96(12), 127404.Google Scholar

[26] Ulrich, S. M., Gies, C., Ates, S. et al. 2007. Photon statistics of semiconductor microcavity lasers. Phys. Rev. Lett., 98(4), 043906.Google Scholar

[27] Wiersig, J., Gies, C., Jahnke, F. et al. 2009. Direct observation of correlations between individual photon emission events of a microcavity laser. Nature, 460, 245–249.Google Scholar

[28] Winger, M., Volz, T., Tarel, G. et al. 2009. Explanation of photon correlations in the far-off-resonance optical emission from a quantum-dot–cavity system. Phys. Rev. Lett., 103(20), 207403.Google Scholar

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Why this information is here

This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

Accessibility Information

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this chapter is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.