Journal Article

Polariton-generated intensity squeezing in semiconductor micropillars

Amo, A., Giacobino, E., Boulier, T., Bamba, M., Bloch, J., Ciuti, C., Bramati, A., Lemaitre, A., Galopin, E., Adrados, C., Sagnes, I.

2014

Overview

The generation of squeezed and entangled light fields is a crucial ingredient for the implementation of quantum information protocols. In this context, semiconductor materials offer a strong potential for the implementation of on-chip devices operating at the quantum level. Here we demonstrate a novel source of continuous variable squeezed light in pillar-shaped semiconductor microcavities in the strong coupling regime. Degenerate polariton four-wave mixing is obtained by exciting the pillar at normal incidence. We observe a bistable behaviour and we demonstrate the generation of squeezing near the turning point of the bistability curve. The confined pillar geometry allows for a larger amount of squeezing than planar microcavities due to the discrete energy levels protected from excess noise. By analysing the noise of the emitted light, we obtain a measured intensity squeezing of 20.3%, inferred to be 35.8% after corrections. Squeezed and entangled light are necessary for quantum information applications. Here, working towards the practical application of such schemes, Boulier and colleagues demonstrate the generation of squeezed light from exciton-polaritons in a semiconductor micropillar.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group
• Subject: 639/766/119/1000 / 639/766/400/2797 / Condensed Matter / Humanities and Social Sciences / multidisciplinary / Physics / Quantum Gases / Quantum Physics / Science / Science (multidisciplinary)