Publication date: 15th May 2025
Quantum communication networks are expected to revolutionize information transfer, unlock untapped frontiers in fundamental scientific research, and advance US national security interests. However, materials that can efficiently generate photons in a non-classical state (i.e. single photons or entangled photon pairs) at the low-loss telecom window of 1550 nm, are lacking. Colloidal semiconducting quantum dots (cQDs) are poised to address this gap as they are capable of deterministic single photon emission at room temperature. Lead chalcogenides are the most studied infrared (IR) cQDs due to ease of synthesis, but they have intrinsically slow radiative lifetimes. Leading to rapid dephasing of the emitted photons, this makes them unsuitable for long range communication. The work presented herein explores two different cQD systems (II-VI and III-V) that have much faster radiative lifetimes than their lead chalcogenide counterpart. I will discuss the synthesis of these cQDs, their single dot spectra, and the implications for potential quantum information technologies.