Ordered arrays of InGaN/GaN dot-in-a-wire nanostructures as single photon emitters

The realization of reliable single photon emitters operating at high temperature and located at predetermined positions still presents a major challenge for the development of solid-state systems for quantum light applications. We demonstrate single-photon emission from two-dimensional ordered arrays of GaN nanowires containing InGaN nano-disks. The structures were fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy on (0001) GaN-on-sapphire templates patterned with nanohole masks prepared by colloidal lithography. Low-temperature cathodoluminescence measurements reveal the spatial distribution of light emitted from a single nanowire heterostructure. The emission originating from the topmost part of the InGaN regions covers the blue-to-green spectral range and shows intense and narrow quantum dot-like photoluminescence lines. These lines exhibit an average linear polarization ratio of 92%. Photon correlation measurements show photon antibunching with a g(2)(0) values well below the 0.5 threshold for single photon emission. The antibunching rate increases linearly with the optical excitation power, extrapolating to the exciton decay rate of ~1 ns-1 at vanishing pump power. This value is comparable with the exciton lifetime measured by time-resolved photoluminescence. Fast and efficient single photon emitters with controlled spatial position and strong linear polarization are an important step towards high-speed on-chip quantum information management.