Fabrication of quantum dot and ring arrays by direct laser interference patterning for nanophotonics

Epitaxially grown semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and quantum rings (QRs) have been demonstrated to be excellent sources of single photons and entangled photon pairs enabling applications within quantum photonics. The emerging field of QD-based nanophotonics requires the deterministic integration of single or multiple QD structures into photonic architectures. However, the natural inhomogeneity and spatial randomness of self-assembled QDs limit their potential, and the reliable formation of homogeneous and ordered QDs during epitaxy still presents a challenge. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of regular arrays of single III–V QDs and QRs using molecular beam epitaxy assisted by in situ direct laser interference patterning. Both droplet epitaxy (DE) GaAs/AlGaAs QDs and QRs and Stranski–Krastanov (SK) InAs/GaAs QDs are presented. The resulting QD structures exhibit high uniformity and good optical quality, in which a record-narrow photoluminescence linewidth of ∼17 meV from patterned GaAs QD arrays is achieved. Such QD and QR arrays fabricated through this novel optical technique constitute a next-generation platform for functional nanophotonic devices and act as useful building blocks for the future quantum revolution.