Indium arsenide quantum dots for single photons in the communications band

Abstract

This thesis presents work towards engineering and characterizing epitaxial Indium Arsenide (InAs) quantum dots as single photon sources in the optical communications C-Band (Conventional Band; 1535 nm-1565 nm wavelength). First, the underlying theory of semiconductor quantum dots and the necessary tools from quantum optics are reviewed. Next, a detailed description is given of the experimental system design, along with an overview of the design and implementation process of a cryogenic scanning laser confocal microscope. Then, the quantum dot growth process is presented along with the results of measurements on early quantum dot samples, which suggested that the initial growth process needed to be refined. We present efforts towards improving the growth process and measurements of quantum dot samples resulting from this new process.