Electrically Driven Single-Photon Sources Based on InP/GaInP Quantum Dots: Characterization and Application in Quantum Communication

Single photons on demand are highly desirable sources for future applications in quantum communication. Semiconductor quantum dots are a promising approach to realize compact and efficient single-photon sources due to their tailorable emission energy, small emission linewidth and their ease of integrability with devices. To operate an electrically driven device with high repetition rates, the influence of several excitation parameters on the emission properties has to be investigated and a detailed understanding of the underlying physical processes is essential. This talk will discuss some of our recent progress on understanding the purity of pulse-excited single photons using micro-electroluminescence and photon-statistics measurements. Furthermore these single-photon sources have shown high potential in several application-oriented experiments such as free-space quantum key distribution and quantum frequency conversion of visible single photons (711 nm) emitted by a quantum dot to a telecom wavelength (1313 nm).