Single photon emission from ODT passivated near-surface GaAs quantum dots

Epitaxially grown semiconductor quantum dots are promising candidates for pure single photon and polarization-entangled photon pair emission. Excellent optical properties can typically be ensured only if these so-called “artificial atoms” are buried deep inside the semiconductor host material. Quantum dots grown close to the surface are prone to charge carrier fluctuations and trap states on the surface, degrading the brightness, coherence, and stability of the emission. We report on high-purity single photon emission [g(2)(0) = 0.016  ± 0.015] of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots that were grown only 20 nm below the surface. Chemical surface passivation with sulfur compounds such as octadecanethiol has been performed on quantum dots with 20, 40, and 98 nm from the surface. The reduction of the density and influence of surface states causes improvements in linewidth and photoluminescence intensity as well as a well-preserved single photon emission. Therefore, the realization of hybrid nanophotonic devices, comprising near-field coupling and high-quality optical properties, comes into reach.