Aristide Lemaitre

Topological interface states in one-dimensional superlattices provide spatially localized phonon modes protected by the topology of the underlying band structure. In GaAs/AlAs distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs), such states can be engineered through band inversion between superlattices with opposite Zak phases within the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger framework. Here, we demonstrate topological phonon molecules and extended chains formed by coupled nanophononic interface states. By concatenating three superlattices with alternating topology, we realize two coupled interface states that hybridize into symmetric and antisymmetric modes, whose splitting can be tuned over tens of gigahertz by varying the reflectivity of the central DBR. Extending this concept, we engineer chains of up to N = 6 coupled interface states that form narrow topological minibands while remaining strongly localized at the interfaces. We experimentally observe these coupled states in molecular-beam-epitaxy-grown GaAs/AlAs heterostructures using time-domain pump-probe transient reflectivity measurements, and reproduce their behavior using transfer-matrix calculations and a simple analytical model for the mode splitting. These results establish topological interface states as a robust platform for engineering coupled phononic systems and tunable nanophononic architectures in the GHz regime.

The engineering of specialty lasers with unconventional mode structures is one of the modern challenges in the development of integrated coherent sources. Examples include the use of bound states in the continuum, microlasers with orbital angular momentum, Dirac-band lasers, and topological lasers. In this work, we engineer a two-dimensional lattice of coupled micropillars with lasing line modes. We use a convenient combination of orbital photonic modes to design photonic bands that are flat in one direction and dispersive in the perpendicular one, giving rise to line lasing modes. Such an architecture opens the possibility of implementing densely packed lasing matrices in compact two-dimensional lattices.

Exciton-polaritons in semiconductor microcavities exhibit large two-body interactions that, thanks to ever-refined nanotechnology techniques, are getting closer and closer to the quantum regime where single-photon nonlinearities start being relevant. To foster additional progress in this direction, in this work we experimentally investigate the microscopic mechanism driving polariton-polariton interactions. We measure the dispersion relation of the collective excitations that are thermally generated on top of a coherent fluid of interacting lower polaritons. By comparing the measurements with the Bogoliubov theory over both the lower- and upper-polariton branches simultaneously, we find that polariton-polariton interactions stem dominantly from a mechanism of saturation of the exciton oscillator strength.

Quantum frequency converters are key enabling technologies in photonic quantum information science to bridge the gap between quantum emitters and telecom photons. Here, we report a coherent frequency converter scheme combining a fiber-coupled nonlinear optical lithium niobate waveguide with a fiber-pigtailed single-photon source based on semiconductor quantum dots. Single and indistinguishable photons are converted from 925.7 nm to the telecommunication C-band, with a 48.4% end-to-end efficiency and full preservation of single-photon purity and indistinguishability. The integration of the two fiber-based modules achieving top-level performance represents an important step toward the practical interconnection of future quantum information processing systems operating at different wavelengths.

Quantum states of light with many entangled photons are key resources for photonic quantum computing and quantum communication. In this work, we exploit a highly resource-efficient generation scheme based on a linear optical circuit embedding a fibered delay loop acting as a quantum memory. The single photons are generated with a bright single-photon source based on a semiconductor quantum dot, allowing to perform the entangling scheme up to 6 photons. We demonstrate 2, 3, 4 and 6-photon entanglement generation at respective rates of 6 kHz, 120 Hz, 2.2 Hz, and 2 mHz, corresponding to an average scaling ratio of 46. We introduce a method for real-time control of entanglement generation based on partially post-selected measurements. The visibility of such measurements enables discrimination and correcting for experimental phase drifts or entangling gate fidelity variations, and thus carries faithful information to monitor the entanglement process, an important feature for the practical implementation of photonic measurement-based quantum computation.

Quantum key distribution is a key application of quantum mechanics, shaping the future of privacy and secure communications. Many protocols require single photons, often approximated by strongly attenuated laser pulses. Here, we harness the emission of a quantum dot embedded in a micropillar and explore a hybrid approach where the information is encoded on a mixture of single photons and laser pulses. We derive a phenomenological analysis of the configuration where both sources of light are mixed incoherently to perform the BB84 protocol, showing nearly perfect matching between theory and experiment. This provides a flexible technology compensating limited collected brightnesses of single-photon sources as well as a thorough investigation of single-photon statistics advantage scenarios over Poisson-distributed statistics. Explicitly, our model highlights an efficiency threshold for unconditional advantage of single photons over laser along with insights on the interplay between single-photon purity and collected brightness in the performances of BB84.

Unlike discrete photonic circuits, which manipulate photons step-by-step using a series of optical elements, arrays of coupled waveguides enable photons to interfere continuously across the entire structure. When composed of a nonlinear material, such arrays can also directly generate quantum states of light within the circuit. To clarify the similarities and distinctions between these two approaches of quantum walks, we conduct here a systematic comparison between linear waveguide arrays, injected with photons produced externally, and nonlinear arrays, where photon pairs are continuously generated via parametric down-conversion. We experimentally validate these predictions using III-V semiconductor nonlinear waveguide lattices with varied geometries, enabling us to tune the depth of the quantum walks over an order of magnitude and reveal the gradual emergence of non-classicality in the output state. Finally, we demonstrate an inverse-design approach to engineer aperiodic waveguide arrays, whose optimized coupling profiles generate maximally entangled states such as the biphoton W-state. These results highlight the potential of continuously-coupled photonic systems to harness high-dimensional entanglement within compact architectures.

The quantum interference between a coherent state and a single photon is an important tool in continuous variable optical quantum technologies to characterize and engineer non-Gaussian quantum states. Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), which have recently emerged as a key platform for efficient single-photon generation, could become interesting assets in this context. An essential parameter for interfering single photons and classical fields is the mean wavepacket overlap between both fields. Here, we report on two homodyne photon-correlation techniques enabling the precise measurement of the overlap between a single photon generated by a QD-cavity device and pulsed laser light. The different statistics of interfering fields lead to specific signatures of the quantum interference on the photon correlations at the output of the interfering beam splitter. We compare the behavior of maximized overlap, measuring either the Hong–Ou–Mandel visibility between both outputs or the photon bunching at a single output. Through careful tailoring of the laser light in various degrees of freedom, we achieve a record overlap of 76 % with integrated solid-state sources, which evidences the very low level of noise in our integrated single-photon sources.

Photonic lattices facilitate band structure engineering, supporting both localized and extended modes through their geometric design. However, greater control over these modes can be achieved by taking advantage of the interference effect between external drives with precisely tuned phases and photonic modes within the lattice. In this work, we build on this principle to demonstrate optical switching, directed light propagation, and site-specific localization in a one-dimensional photonic lattice of coupled microresonators by resonantly driving the system with a coherent field of controlled phase. Importantly, our experimental results provide direct evidence that increased driving power acts as a tuning parameter enabling nonlinear localization at frequencies previously inaccessible in the linear regime. These findings open different avenues for controlling light propagation and localization in lattices with more elaborate band structures.