Noise-free Excitation of Semiconductor Quantum Dots

Photonic links are the only viable solution for room-temperature quantum interconnection. Among all photonic platforms, semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) have seen significant advancements in recent years. Epitaxially grown QDs are the only single-photon sources to surpass the 67% error correction efficiency threshold, while maintaining high purity (>98%) and indistinguishability (>98%). These characteristics position QDs as the leading candidates for building practical quantum interconnects. Founded in 2022, Icarus Quantum is leveraging over 25 years of research at the Quantum Nanophotonics Group at NIST Boulder to develop a fully fiber-coupled, turnkey photon source based on semiconductor QD technology. Our platform is engineered for scalability in both fabrication and performance, enabling wafer-scale integration of charge-controlled QDs in optical cavities—capable of housing multiple high-efficiency photon sources on a single chip. This approach represents a critical milestone toward efficient entangled photon sources and quantum transducers, a full-stack platform-agnostic quantum interconnect. In this project, Icarus Quantum will address robust and stable fiber-coupling of such single-photon sources. We have already demonstrated 40% end-to-end efficiency at the chip scale as a result of several governments grants, including a NIST SBIR Phase I. Finally, we are taking the steps to package our devices fully into a plug-and-play product.