Nanoscale solid-state single photon router

A novel scheme for a solid-state single-photon router based on a single quantum dot (QD) coupled to a nanomechanical resonator (NR) is proposed and analyzed theoretically. It relies on the coherent coupling between the quantum dot and the NR. We demonstrate that when a single-photon signal is tuned on resonance with the exciton in the QD, one can use a strong pump field to choose to what output port of this signal field is delivered, which is based on the analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect which we refer it as phonon induced transparency (PIT) in this coupled system. The path between the reflection output port and the transmission output port can be achieved by simply turning off and on the pump field. The numerical results also indicate that this router can operate efficiently in the optical regime and at ultralow pump power as well as short switching time (∼ns). This nanoscale router presented here will offer potential applications in scalable solid-state quantum networks and quantum information.

► We devise a protocol for a solid-state single-photon router.
► The solid-state single-photon router is based on phonon-induced transparency (PIT).
► The path of the single-photon router can be achieved by simply turning off and on the pump field.