Polarization-entangled photon generation in a semiconductor quantum dot coupled to a cavity interacting with external fields

Abstract

We theoretically investigate polarization-entangled photon generation using a semiconductor quantum dot embedded in a microcavity. The entangled states can be produced by the application of two cross-circularly polarized laser fields. The quantum dot nanostructure is considered as a four-level system (ground, two excitons and bi-exciton states), and the theoretical study relies on the dressed states scheme. The quantum correlations, reported in terms of the entanglement of formation, are extensively studied for several values of the important parameters of the quantum dot system as the bi-exciton binding energy, the decoherence times of the characteristic transitions, the quality factor of the cavity and the intensities of the applied fields.Keywords Semiconductor quantum dot in cavities · Entanglement of formation for photon pairs · Master equation