Time-resolved and antibunching experiments on single quantum dots at 1300 nm

We present time integrated and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) measurements on a single InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD), embedded in a planar microcavity, emitting in the 1300 nm telecom band. The results of both measurements clearly identify the exciton and biexciton transitions from a single QD. By optimizing the extraction efficiency of the QD PL into the single mode fibers and carefully tuning two InGaAs avalanche photodiodes, we were able to measure the second order correlation function with integration times comparable to those made with silicon based technology. These measurements demonstrate that our single QDs are efficient sources of triggered single photons for quantum key distribution in the O band. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.