- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review Applied

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Editors' Suggestion
  • Letter
  • Open Access

Quantum dots on GaAs substrates as integration-ready high-performance single-photon sources at telecommunication wavelengths

Beatrice Costa1,2,*, Bianca Scaparra1,2, Xiao Wei1,2, Hubert Riedl3, Gregor Koblmüller2,3,4, Eugenio Zallo2,3, Jonathan J. Finley2,3, Lukas Hanschke1,2, and Kai Müller1,2

  • *Contact author: beatrice.costa@tum.de
PDF

Phys. Rev. Applied 25, L011002 – Published 6 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/4fzb-595x

Abstract

The development of deterministic single-photon sources emitting in the telecommunication bands is a key challenge for quantum communication and photonic quantum computing. Here, we investigate the optical properties and single-photon emission of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) emitting in the telecom O- and C-bands. The QDs are embedded in an InGaAs matrix with fixed indium content grown on top of a compositionally graded InGaAs buffer. This structure allows for the future implementation of electrically contacted nanocavities to enable high-quality and bright QD emission. In detailed optical characterizations we observe linewidths as low as 50μeV, close to the spectrometer resolution limit, low fine structure splittings close to 10μeV, and g(2)(0) values as low as 0.08. These results advance the current performance metrics for MBE-grown QDs on GaAs substrates emitting in the telecom bands and showcase the potential of the heterostructures presented for further integration into photonic devices.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (42)

  1. P. Senellart, G. Solomon, and A. White, Nat. Nanotechnol. 12, 1026 (2017).
  2. L. Hanschke, K. A. Fischer, S. Appel, D. Lukin, J. Wierzbowski, S. Sun, R. Trivedi, J. Vučković, J. J. Finley, and K. Müller, npj Quantum Inf. 4, 43 (2018).
  3. F. Sbresny, L. Hanschke, E. Schöll, W. Rauhaus, B. Scaparra, K. Boos, E. Zubizarreta Casalengua, H. Riedl, E. Del Valle, J. J. Finley, K. D. Jöns, and K. Müller, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 093603 (2022).
  4. S. F. C. Da Silva, G. Undeutsch, B. Lehner, S. Manna, T. M. Krieger, M. Reindl, C. Schimpf, R. Trotta, and A. Rastelli, Appl. Phys. Lett. 119, 120502 (2021).
  5. E. Schöll, L. Hanschke, L. Schweickert, K. D. Zeuner, M. Reindl, S. F. Covre Da Silva, T. Lettner, R. Trotta, J. J. Finley, K. Müller, A. Rastelli, V. Zwiller, and K. D. Jöns, Nano Lett. 19, 2404 (2019).
  6. D. A. Vajner, L. Rickert, T. Gao, K. Kaymazlar, and T. Heindel, Adv. Quantum Technol. 5, 2100116 (2022).
  7. F. Basso Basset, M. Valeri, E. Roccia, V. Muredda, D. Poderini, J. Neuwirth, N. Spagnolo, M. B. Rota, G. Carvacho, F. Sciarrino, and R. Trotta, Sci. Adv. 7, eabe6379 (2021).
  8. O. Gazzano, S. Michaelis de Vasconcellos, C. Arnold, A. Nowak, E. Galopin, I. Sagnes, L. Lanco, A. Lemaître, and P. Senellart, Nat. Commun. 4, 1425 (2013).
  9. S. Kolatschek, S. Hepp, M. Sartison, M. Jetter, P. Michler, and S. L. Portalupi, J. Appl. Phys. 125, 045701 (2019).
  10. L. Sapienza, M. Davanço, A. Badolato, and K. Srinivasan, Nat. Commun. 6, 7833 (2015).
  11. S. Gyger, K. D. Zeuner, T. Lettner, S. Bensoussan, M. Carlnäs, L. Ekemar, L. Schweickert, C. R. Hedlund, M. Hammar, T. Nilsson, J. Almlöf, S. Steinhauer, G. V. Llosera, and V. Zwiller, Appl. Phys. Lett. 121, 194003 (2022).
  12. M. Benyoucef, M. Yacob, J. P. Reithmaier, J. Kettler, and P. Michler, Appl. Phys. Lett. 103, 162101 (2013).
  13. P. Holewa, S. Kadkhodazadeh, M. Gawełczyk, P. Baluta, A. Musiał, V. G. Dubrovskii, M. Syperek, and E. Semenova, Nanophotonics 11, 1515 (2022).
  14. T. Müller, J. Skiba-Szymanska, A. B. Krysa, J. Huwer, M. Felle, M. Anderson, R. M. Stevenson, J. Heffernan, D. A. Ritchie, and A. J. Shields, Nat. Commun. 9, 862 (2018).
  15. P. Holewa, D. A. Vajner, E. Zięba-Ostój, M. Wasiluk, B. Gaál, A. Sakanas, M. Burakowski, P. Mrowiński, B. Krajnik, M. Xiong, K. Yvind, N. Gregersen, A. Musiał, A. Huck, T. Heindel, M. Syperek, and E. Semenova, Nat. Commun. 15, 3358 (2024).
  16. C. L. Phillips, A. J. Brash, M. Godsland, N. J. Martin, A. Foster, A. Tomlinson, R. Dost, N. Babazadeh, E. M. Sala, L. Wilson, J. Heffernan, M. S. Skolnick, and A. M. Fox, Sci. Rep. 14, 4450 (2024).
  17. W. B. Jeon, J. S. Moon, K.-Y. Kim, Y.-H. Ko, C. J. K. Richardson, E. Waks, and J.-H. Kim, Adv. Quantum Technol. 5, 2200022 (2022).
  18. M. Paul, F. Olbrich, J. Höschele, S. Schreier, J. Kettler, S. L. Portalupi, M. Jetter, and P. Michler, Appl. Phys. Lett. 111, 033102 (2017).
  19. P. A. Wroński, P. Wyborski, A. Musiał, P. Podemski, G. Sęk, S. Höfling, and F. Jabeen, Materials 14, 5221 (2021).
  20. B. Scaparra, A. Ajay, P. S. Avdienko, Y. Xue, H. Riedl, P. Kohl, B. Jonas, B. Costa, E. Sirotti, P. Schmiedeke, V. Villafañe, I. D. Sharp, E. Zallo, G. Koblmüller, J. J. Finley, and K. Müller, Mater. Quantum Technol. 3, 035004 (2023).
  21. P. Wyborski, M. Gawełczyk, P. Podemski, P. A. Wroński, M. Pawlyta, S. Gorantla, F. Jabeen, S. Höfling, and G. Sęk, Phys. Rev. Appl. 20, 044009 (2023).
  22. A. Sacedón, F. González-Sanz, E. Calleja, E. Muñoz, S. I. Molina, F. J. Pacheco, D. Araújo, R. García, M. Lourenço, Z. Yang, P. Kidd, and D. Dunstan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 66, 3334 (1995).
  23. R. Sittig, C. Nawrath, S. Kolatschek, S. Bauer, R. Schaber, J. Huang, P. Vijayan, P. Pruy, S. L. Portalupi, M. Jetter, and P. Michler, Nanophotonics 11, 1109 (2022).
  24. E. S. Semenova, R. Hostein, G. Patriarche, O. Mauguin, L. Largeau, I. Robert-Philip, A. Beveratos, and A. Lemaître, J. Appl. Phys. 103, 103533 (2008).
  25. S. V. Sorokin, G. V. Klimko, I. V. Sedova, A. A. Sitnikova, D. A. Kirilenko, M. V. Baidakova, M. A. Yagovkina, T. A. Komissarova, K. G. Belyaev, and S. V. Ivanov, J. Cryst. Growth 455, 83 (2016).
  26. B. Scaparra, E. Sirotti, A. Ajay, B. Jonas, B. Costa, H. Riedl, P. Avdienko, I. D. Sharp, G. Koblmüller, E. Zallo, J. J. Finley, and K. Müller, ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 7, 26854 (2024).
  27. A. M. Andrews, J. S. Speck, A. E. Romanov, M. Bobeth, and W. Pompe, J. Appl. Phys. 91, 1933 (2002).
  28. A. Barbiero, A. Tuktamyshev, G. Pirard, J. Huwer, T. Müller, R. M. Stevenson, S. Bietti, S. Vichi, A. Fedorov, G. Bester, S. Sanguinetti, and A. J. Shields, Phys. Rev. Appl. 18, 034081 (2022).
  29. D. A. Vajner, P. Holewa, E. Zięba-Ostój, M. Wasiluk, M. von Helversen, A. Sakanas, A. Huck, K. Yvind, N. Gregersen, A. Musiał, M. Syperek, E. Semenova, and T. Heindel, ACS Photonics 11, 339 (2024).
  30. A. V. Kuhlmann, J. H. Prechtel, J. Houel, A. Ludwig, D. Reuter, A. D. Wieck, and R. J. Warburton, Nat. Commun. 6, 8204 (2015).
  31. C. Nawrath, F. Olbrich, M. Paul, S. L. Portalupi, M. Jetter, and P. Michler, Appl. Phys. Lett. 115, 023103 (2019).
  32. J. Kim, J. Kaupp, Y. Reum, G. Peniakov, J. Michl, F. Kohr, M. Emmerling, M. Kamp, Y.-H. Cho, T. Huber-Loyola, S. Höfling, and A. T. Pfenning, Adv. Quantum Technol. 18, e2500069 (2025).
  33. R. Joos, S. Bauer, C. Rupp, S. Kolatschek, W. Fischer, C. Nawrath, P. Vijayan, R. Sittig, M. Jetter, S. L. Portalupi, and P. Michler, Nano Lett. 24, 8626 (2024).
  34. N. Hauser, M. Bayerbach, J. Kaupp, Y. Reum, G. Peniakov, J. Michl, M. Kamp, T. Huber-Loyola, A. T. Pfenning, S. Höfling, and S. Barz, arXiv:2505.09695 [quant-ph].
  35. L. Sapienza, R. N. E. Malein, C. E. Kuklewicz, P. E. Kremer, K. Srinivasan, A. Griffiths, E. Clarke, M. Gong, R. J. Warburton, and B. D. Gerardot, Phys. Rev. B 88, 155330 (2013).
  36. T. Lettner, S. Gyger, K. D. Zeuner, L. Schweickert, S. Steinhauer, C. Reuterskiöld Hedlund, S. Stroj, A. Rastelli, M. Hammar, R. Trotta, K. D. Jöns, and V. Zwiller, Nano Lett. 21, 10501 (2021).
  37. K. D. Zeuner, K. D. Jöns, L. Schweickert, C. Reuterskiöld Hedlund, C. Nuñez Lobato, T. Lettner, K. Wang, S. Gyger, E. Schöll, S. Steinhauer, M. Hammar, and V. Zwiller, ACS Photonics 8, 2337 (2021).
  38. J. Skiba-Szymanska, R. M. Stevenson, C. Varnava, M. Felle, J. Huwer, T. Müller, A. J. Bennett, J. P. Lee, I. Farrer, A. B. Krysa, P. Spencer, L. E. Goff, D. A. Ritchie, J. Heffernan, and A. J. Shields, Phys. Rev. Appl. 8, 014013 (2017).
  39. P. Holewa, A. Sakanas, U. M. Gür, P. Mrowiński, A. Huck, B.-Y. Wang, A. Musiał, K. Yvind, N. Gregersen, M. Syperek, and E. Semenova, ACS Photonics 9, 2273 (2022).
  40. G. Bacher, R. Weigand, J. Seufert, V. D. Kulakovskii, N. A. Gippius, A. Forchel, K. Leonardi, and D. Hommel, Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 4417 (1999).
  41. P. A. Dalgarno, J. McFarlane, D. Brunner, R. W. Lambert, B. D. Gerardot, R. J. Warburton, K. Karrai, A. Badolato, and P. M. Petroff, Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 193103 (2008).
  42. A. I. Veretennikov, M. V. Rakhlin, Yu. M. Serov, A. I. Galimov, G. P. Veyshtort, S. V. Sorokin, G. V. Klimko, I. V. Sedova, N. A. Maleev, M. A. Bobrov, A. P. Vasiliev, A. G. Kuzmenkov, M. M. Kulagina, Yu. M. Zadiranov, S. I. Troshkov, Yu. A. Salii, D. S. Berezina, E. V. Nikitina, and A. A. Toropov, JETP Lett. 121, 170 (2025).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Applied 25, L011002– Published 6 January, 2026
  • Received 2 June 2025
  • Revised 6 October 2025
  • Accepted 17 October 2025
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation