Semiconductor-Superconductor Quantum Optoelectronics

Various applications in the rapidly growing field of quantum information science require reliable and effective quantum light sources. We proposed an efficient approach for generation of entangled photons, based on Cooper-pair luminescence in semiconductors, which does not require isolated emitters. Semiconductor quantum wells, remove the light-heavy-hole degeneracy, allowing efficient photon entanglement generation in simple electrically-driven structures, taking advantage of the superconducting macroscopic coherence [1]. We analyzed a new effect of enhanced light amplification in electrically-driven semiconductor-superconductor structures, including Cooper-pair based two-photon gain [2]. We also proposed a compact and highly-efficient scheme for a complete Bell-state analysis using two-photon absorption in a superconducting proximity region of a semiconductor avalanche photodiode [3]. This Cooper-pair based two-photon absorption results in a strong detection preference of a specified entangled state.