<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Semiconductor quantum dots are excellent candidates for ultrafast coherent manipulation of qubits by laser pulses on picosecond timescales or even faster. In inhomogeneous ensembles a macroscopic optical polarization decays rapidly due to dephasing, which, however, is reversible in photon echoes carrying complete information about the coherent ensemble dynamics. Control of the echo emission time is mandatory for applications. Here, we propose a concept to reach this goal. In a two-pulse photon echo sequence, we apply an additional resonant control pulse with multiple of 2<jats:italic>π</jats:italic> area. Depending on its arrival time, the control slows down dephasing or rephasing of the exciton ensemble during its action. We demonstrate for self-assembled (In,Ga)As quantum dots that the photon echo emission time can be retarded or advanced by up to 5 ps relative to its nominal appearance time without control. This versatile protocol may be used to obtain significantly longer temporal shifts for suitably tailored control pulses.</jats:p>

<jats:p>Future quantum computation and networks require scalable monolithic circuits, which incorporate various advanced functionalities on a single physical substrate. Although substantial progress for various applications has already been demonstrated on different platforms, the range of diversified manipulation of photonic states on demand on a single chip has remained limited, especially dynamic time management. Here, we demonstrate an electro-optic device, including photon pair generation, propagation, electro-optical path routing, as well as a voltage-controllable time delay of up to ~12 ps on a single Ti:LiNbO<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> waveguide chip. As an example, we demonstrate Hong-Ou-Mandel interference with a visibility of more than 93 ± 1.8%. Our chip not only enables the deliberate manipulation of photonic states by rotating the polarization but also provides precise time control. Our experiment reveals that we have full flexible control over single-qubit operations by harnessing the complete potential of fast on-chip electro-optic modulation.</jats:p>

Spins in semiconductor quantum dots have been considered as prospective quantum bit excitations. Their coupling to the crystal environment manifests itself in a limitation of the spin coherence times to the microsecond range, both for electron and hole spins. This rather short-lived coherence compared to atomic states asks for manipulations on timescales as short as possible. Due to the huge dipole moment for transitions between the valence and conduction band, pulsed laser systems offer the possibility to perform manipulations within picoseconds or even faster. Here, we report on results that show the potential of optical spin manipulations with currently available pulsed laser systems. Using picosecond laser pulses, we demonstrate optically induced spin rotations of electron and hole spins. We further realize the optical decoupling of the hole spins from the nuclear surrounding at the nanosecond timescales and demonstrate an all-optical spin tomography for interacting electron spin sub-ensembles.

Using a finite-difference time-domain method, we theoretically investigate the optical spectra of crossing perpendicular photonic crystal waveguides with quantum dots embedded in the central rod. The waveguides are designed so that the light mainly propagates along one direction and the cross talk is greatly reduced in the transverse direction. It is shown that when a quantum dot (QD) is resonant with the cavity, strong coupling can be observed via both the transmission and crosstalk spectrum. If the cavity is far off-resonant from the QD, both the cavity mode and the QD signal can be detected in the transverse direction since the laser field is greatly suppressed in this direction. This structure could have strong implications for resonant excitation and in-plane detection of QD optical spectroscopy.

Optical experiments on second-harmonic generation from split-ring-resonator square arrays show a nonmonotonic dependence of the conversion efficiency on the lattice constant. This finding is interpreted in terms of a competition between dilution effects and linewidth or near-field changes due to interactions among the individual elements in the array.

We numerically investigate the interaction dynamics of coupled cavities in planar photonic crystal slabs in different configurations. The single cavity is optimized for a long lifetime of the fundamental mode, reaching a Q-factor of ≈43, 000 using the method of gentle confinement. For pairs of cavities we consider several configurations and present a setup with strongest coupling observable as a line splitting of about 30 nm. Based on this configuration, setups with three cavities are investigated.

A simulation environment for metallic nanostructures based on the Discontinuous Galerkin Time Domain method is presented. The model is used to compute the linear and nonlinear optical response of split ring resonators and to study physical mechanisms that contribute to second harmonic generation.

We demonstrate by spin quantum beat spectroscopy that in undoped symmetric (110)-oriented GaAs/AlGaAs single quantum wells, even a symmetric spatial envelope wave function gives rise to an asymmetric in-plane electron Land´e g-factor. The anisotropy is neither a direct consequence of the asymmetric in-plane Dresselhaus splitting nor a direct consequence of the asymmetric Zeeman splitting of the hole bands, but rather it is a pure higher-order effect that exists as well for diamond-type lattices. The measurements for various well widths are very well described within 14 × 14 band k·p theory and illustrate that the electron spin is an excellent meter variable for mapping out the internal—otherwise hidden—symmetries in two-dimensional systems. Fourth-order perturbation theory yields an analytical expression for the strength of the g-factor anisotropy, providing a qualitative understanding of the observed effects.

The injection of photocurrents by femtosecond laser pulses in (110)-orientedGaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The roomtemperature measurements show an oscillatory dependence of the injection current amplitude and direction on the excitation photon energy. Microscopic calculations using the semiconductor Bloch equations that are set up on the basis of k.p band structure calculations provide a detailed understanding of the experimental findings.

We present a nonequilibrium ab initio method for calculating nonlinear and nonlocal optical effects in metallic slabs with a thickness of several nanometers. The numerical analysis is based on the full solution of the time‐dependent Kohn–Sham equations for a jellium system and allows to study the optical response of metal electrons subject to arbitrarily shaped intense light pulses. We find a strong localization of the generated second‐harmonic current in the surface regions of the slabs.

We numerically investigate the coupling between circular resonators and study strong light‐matter coupling of single as well as multiple circular resonators to quantum‐mechanical resonators in two dimensional model simulations. For all cases, the computed resonances of the coupled system as function of the detuning show anti‐crossings. The obtained mode splittings of coupled optical resonators are strongly depending on distance and cluster in almost degenerate eigenstates for large distances, as is known from coupled resonator optical waveguides. Vacuum Rabi splitting is observed for a quantum dot strongly coupled to eigenmodes of single perfectly cylindrical resonators.

The intensity dependence of optically-induced injection currents in unbiased GaAs semiconductor quantum wells grown in [110] direction is investigated theoretically for a number of well widths. Our microscopic analysis is based on a 14 x 14 band k . p method in combination with the multisubband semiconductor Bloch equations. An oscillatory dependence of the injection current transients as function of intensity and time is predicted and explained. It is demonstrated that optical excitations involving different subbands and Rabi flopping are responsible for this complex dynamics.

The coherent state manipulation of single quantum systems is a fundamental requirement for the implementation of quantum information processors. Exciton qubits are of particular interest for coherent optoelectronic applications, in particular due to their excellent coupling to photons. Until now, coherent manipulations of exciton qubits in semiconductor quantum dots have been performed predominantly by pulsed laser fields. Coherent control of the population of excitonic states with a single laser pulse, observed by Rabi oscillations, has been demonstrated by several groups using different techniques1,2,3. By using two laser pulses, more general state control can be achieved4, and coupling of two excitons has been reported5,6. Here, we present a conceptually new approach for implementing the coherent control of an exciton two-level system (qubit) by means of a time-dependent electric interaction. The new scheme makes use of an optical clock signal and a synchronous electric gate signal, which controls the coherent manipulation.

GaAs-based semiconductor microdisks with high quality whispering gallery modes (Q44000) have been fabricated.A layer of self-organized InAs quantumdots (QDs) served as a light source to feed the optical modes at room temperature. In order to achieve frequency tuning of the optical modes, the microdisk devices have been immersed in 4 – cyano – 4´-pentylbiphenyl (5CB), a liquid crystal(LC) with a nematic phase below the clearing temperature of TC≈34°C .We have studied the device performance in the temperature rangeof T=20-50°C, in order to investigate the influence of the nematic–isotropic phase transition on the optical modes. Moreover,we havea pplied an AC electric field to the device,which leads in the nematic phase to a reorientation of the anisotropic dielectric tensor of the liquid crystal.This electrical anisotropy can be used to achieve electrical tunability of the optical modes.Using the finite-difference time domain (FDTD) technique with an anisotropic material model, we are able to describe the influence of the liquid crystal qualitatively.