A solid-state entangled photon pair source with high brightness and indistinguishability

Abstract

The generation of high-quality entangled photon pairs has been being a long-sought goal in modern quantum communication and computation. To date, the most widely-used entangled photon pairs are generated from spontaneous parametric downconversion, a process that is intrinsically probabilistic and thus relegated to a regime of low pair-generation rates. In contrast, semiconductor quantum dots can generate triggered entangled photon pairs via a cascaded radiative decay process, and do not suffer from any fundamental trade-off between source brightness and multi-pair generation. However, a source featuring simultaneously high photon-extraction efficiency, high-degree of entanglement fidelity and photon indistinguishability has not yet been reported. Here, we present an entangled photon pair source with high brightness and indistinguishability by deterministically embedding GaAs quantum dots in broadband photonic nanostructures that enable Purcell-enhanced emission. Our source produces entangled photon pairs with a record pair collection probability of up to 0.65(4) (single-photon extraction efficiency of 0.85(3)), entanglement fidelity of 0.88(2), and indistinguishabilities of 0.901(3) and 0.903(3), which immediately creates opportunities for advancing quantum photonic technologies.