The on-chip generation of nonclassical states of light is a key requirement for future optical quantum hardware. In solid-state cavity quantum electrodynamics, such nonclassical light can be generated from self-assembled quantum dots strongly coupled to photonic crystal cavities. Their anharmonic strong light-matter interaction results in large optical nonlinearities at the single photon level, where the admission of a single photon into the cavity may enhance (photon tunneling) or diminish (photon blockade) the probability for a second photon to enter the cavity. Here, we demonstrate that detuning the cavity and quantum-dot resonances enables the generation of high-purity nonclassical light from strongly coupled systems. For specific detunings we show that not only the purity but also the efficiency of single-photon generation increases significantly, making high-quality single-photon generation by photon blockade possible with current state-of-the-art samples.

• Received 11 February 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.233601