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The coherent interaction of electromagnetic fields with solid-state two-level systems can yield deterministic quantum light sources for photonic quantum technologies. To date, the performance of semiconductor single-photon sources based on three-level systems is limited mainly due to a lack of high photon indistinguishability. Here, we tailor the cavity-enhanced spontaneous emission from a ladder-type three-level system in a single epitaxial quantum dot (QD) through stimulated emission. After populating the biexciton (XX) of the QD through two-photon resonant excitation (TPE), we use another laser pulse to selectively depopulate the XX state into an exciton (X) state with a predefined polarization. The stimulated XX-X emission modifies the X decay dynamics and yields improved polarized single-photon source characteristics such as a source brightness of 0.030(2), a single-photon purity of 0.998(1), and an indistinguishability of 0.926(4). Our method can be readily applied to existing QD single-photon sources and expands the capabilities of three-level systems for advanced quantum photonic functionalities., Comment: NN to appear, comments are welcome

The second-order topological photonic crystal with 0D corner state provides a new way to investigate cavity quantum electrodynamics and develop topological nanophotonic devices with diverse functionalities. Here, we report on the optimization and robustness of topological corner state in the second-order topological photonic crystal both in theory and in experiment. The topological nanocavity is formed based on the 2D generalized Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model. The quality factor of corner state is optimized theoretically and experimentally by changing the gap between two photonic crystals or just modulating the position or size of the airholes surrounding the corner. The fabricated quality factors are further optimized by the surface passivation treatment which reduces surface absorption. A maximum quality factor of the fabricated devices is about 6000, which is the highest value ever reported for the active topological corner state. Furthermore, we demonstrate the robustness of corner state against strong disorders including the bulk defect, edge defect, and even corner defect. Our results lay a solid foundation for the further investigations and applications of the topological corner state, such as the investigation of strong coupling regime and the development of optical devices for topological nanophotonic circuitry., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures

The topological lasers, which are immune to imperfections and disorders, have been recently demonstrated based on many kinds of robust edge states, being mostly at microscale. The realization of 2D on-chip topological nanolasers, having the small footprint, low threshold and high energy efficiency, is still to be explored. Here, we report on the first experimental demonstration of the topological nanolaser with high performance in 2D photonic crystal slab. Based on the generalized 2D Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model, a topological nanocavity is formed with the help of the Wannier-type 0D corner state. Laser behaviors with low threshold about 1 $\mu W$ and high spontaneous emission coupling factor of 0.25 are observed with quantum dots as the active material. Such performance is much better than that of topological edge lasers and comparable to conventional photonic crystal nanolasers. Our experimental demonstration of the low-threshold topological nanolaser will be of great significance to the development of topological nanophotonic circuitry for manipulation of photons in classical and quantum regimes., Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures