Ultra-low power all-optical switching with a single quantum dot in a photonic-crystal cavity

We study the dynamics of the interaction between two weak light beams mediated by a strongly coupled quantum dot-photonic crystal cavity system. We demonstrate switching between two weak pulsed beams (40 ps pulses), observing an increase of the systems transmission when the signal and the control pulses overlap inside the cavity. Our results show that the quantum dot-nanocavity system enables fast, controllable optical switching at the single-photon level.

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