Collective excitation of spatio-spectrally distinct quantum dots enabled by chirped pulses

Nanoscale bright sources that produce high-purity single photons and high-fidelity entangled photon pairs are the building blocks to realize high security quantum communication devices. To achieve high communication rates, it is desirable to have an ensemble of quantum emitters that can be collectively excited, despite their spectral variability. In case of semiconductor quantum dots, Rabi rotations are the most popular method for resonant excitation. However, these cannot assure a universal, highly efficient excited state preparation, due to the sensitivity to excitation parameters. In contrast, adiabatic rapid passage (ARP), relying on chirped optical pulses, is immune to quantum dot spectral inhomogeneity. Here, we show that the robustness of ARP holds true for the simultaneous excitation of the biexciton states in multiple, spatially separated and spectrally different quantum dots. For positive chirps, we also find a regime where the influence of phonons relax the sensitivity to spectral detunings and lower the needed excitation power. Being able to generate high-purity photons from spatially multiplexed quantum dot sources using the biexciton to ground state cascade is a big step towards the implementation of high photon rate, entanglement-based quantum key distribution protocols.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates that adiabatic rapid passage (ARP) can simultaneously excite biexciton states in multiple, spatially separated, and spectrally different quantum dots. Moreover, for positive chirps, the influence of phonons weakens the sensitivity to spectral detunings and reduces the required excitation power. This is a significant step towards implementing high photon rate, entanglement-based quantum key distribution protocols.