Boson sampling is a problem strongly believed to be intractable for classical computers, but can be naturally solved on a specialized photonic quantum simulator. Here, we implement the first time-bin-encoded boson sampling using a highly indistinguishable (∼94%) single-photon source based on a single quantum-dot-micropillar device. The protocol requires only one single-photon source, two detectors, and a loop-based interferometer for an arbitrary number of photons. The single-photon pulse train is time-bin encoded and deterministically injected into an electrically programmable multimode network. The observed three- and four-photon boson sampling rates are 18.8 and 0.2 Hz, respectively, which are more than 100 times faster than previous experiments based on parametric down-conversion.

Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor nanostructures in which a three-dimensional potential trap produces an electronic quantum confinement, thus mimicking the behavior of single atomic dipole-like transitions. However, unlike atoms, QDs can be incorporated into solid-state photonic devices such as cavities or waveguides that enhance the light-matter interaction. A near unit efficiency light-matter interaction is essential for deterministic, scalable quantum-information (QI) devices. In this limit, a single photon input into the device will undergo a large rotation of the polarization of the light field due to the strong interaction with the QD. In this paper we measure a macroscopic (∼6• ) phase shift of light as a result of the interaction with a negatively charged QD coupled to a low-quality-factor (Q ∼ 290) pillar microcavity. This unexpectedly large rotation angle demonstrates that this simple low-Q-factor design would enable near-deterministic light-matter interactions. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.93.241409 The deterministic, lossless exchange of energy between charged QDs and single photons has been shown as the potential building block for a full range of components required for QI and quantum communication [1][2][3]. A deterministic light-matter interaction would give one the ability to both switch the photon state with a high fidelity as well as keep photon loss near zero (high efficiency). To achieve these simultaneously, it is essential that all the photon energy that couples to and from the quantum emitter must do so almost exclusively within a well-defined electromagnetic mode, where one can input/collect single photons. Input/output coupling efficiency is parametrized by the β factor, the ratio between the rate of coupling of the dipole to this well-defined mode compared to the total coupling rate of the dipole to all available electromagnetic modes, including leaky ones.Great success has been had in approaching this limit in several systems, including photonic crystal (PC) waveguides [4] and photonic nanowires [5]. For optical cavities, however, this limit has proven difficult to approach. Light-matter interaction strengths in the "strong coupling" regime have been achieved for high-Q-factor pillar microcavities [6] and in photonic crystal cavities [7], and could show high fidelity switching. However, the input/output mode is usually not well defined in high-Q-factor cavities: the escape rate to and from a well-defined input channel is similar to the escape rate to leaky cavity modes (CMs). These leaky modes arise either from the intrinsic design of the structure or from fabrication imperfections, putting a limit on the efficiency of high-Qfactor microcavities where the escape rate into the input/output mode is slow by design. However, in a low-Q-factor pillar the cavity lifetime is very short. Thus one may easily design a high-β-factor structure with a well-defined input/output mode, a crucial advantage [8].The β factor is directly linked to the competition between the rates of coherent and incohere...

The regime of strong light-matter coupling is typically associated with weak excitation. With current realizations of cavity-QED systems, strong coupling may persevere even at elevated excitation levels sufficient to cross the threshold to lasing. In the presence of stimulated emission, the vacuumRabi doublet in the emission spectrum is modified and the established criterion for strong coupling no longer applies. We provide a generalized criterion for strong coupling and the corresponding emission spectrum, which includes the influence of higher Jaynes-Cummings states. The applicability is demonstrated in a theory-experiment comparison of a few-emitter quantum-dot-micropillar laser as a particular realization of the driven dissipative Jaynes-Cummings model. Furthermore, we address the question if and for which parameters true single-emitter lasing can be achieved, and provide evidence for the coexistence of strong coupling and lasing in our system in the presence of background emitter contributions.

We present optically and electrically tunable conductance modifications of a site-controlled quantum dot memristor. The conductance of the device is tuned by electron localization on a quantum dot. The control of the conductance with voltage and low power light pulses enables applications in neuromorphic and arithmetic computing. As in neural networks, applying pre-and post-synaptic voltage pulses to the memristor allows to increase (potentiation) or decrease (depression) the conductance by tuning the time difference between the electrical pulses. Exploiting state-dependent thresholds for potentiation and depression, we were able to demonstrate a memory-dependent induction of learning. The discharging of the quantum dot can further be induced by low power light pulses in the nW-range. In combination with the state-dependent threshold voltage for discharging, this enables applications as generic building blocks to perform arithmetic operations in bases ranging from binary to decimal with low power optical excitation. Our findings allow the realization of optoelectronic memristor-based synapses in artificial neural networks with a memory-dependent induction of learning and enhanced functionality by performing arithmetic operations.

We present a comparative investigation of the fine structure splitting (FSS) from self-organized In(Ga)As quantum dots (QDs) grown on GaAs substrates with different lattice orientations. QDs grown on (111)B- and (112) oriented substrates are analyzed and compared to small QDs on commonly used (001) substrates. Mean values for the FSS as low as (5.6 ± 0.6) μeV are obtained for QDs on (111)B-GaAs, comparing favorably to the other two approaches ((11.8 ± 1.7) μeV for (112)-surfaces and (14.0 ± 2.2) μeV for (001)-surfaces). Single photon emission from (111)B QDs grown by droplet epitaxy is demonstrated via photon autocorrelation studies with a g(2)(0) value of 0.07.