Surface Acoustic wave modulation of a coherently driven quantum dot in a pillar microcavity

Abstract

We report the efficient coherent photon scattering from a semiconductor quantum dot embedded in a pillar microcavity. We show that a surface acoustic wave can periodically modulate the energy levels of the quantum dot, but has a negligible effect on the cavity mode. The scattered narrow-band laser is converted to a pulsed single-photon stream, displaying an anti-bunching dip characteristic of single-photon emission. Multiple phonon sidebands are resolved in the emission spectrum, due to the absorption and emission of vibrational quanta in each scattering event.

To be published in Applied Physics Letters