We present a scheme to realize a deterministic solid-state source of time-bin entangled photon pairs using cavity-assisted piecewise adiabatic passage in a single quantum dot. The quantum dot is embedded inside a semiconductor microcavity, and the interaction of a coherent superposition of two temporally separated input pulses and the cavity mode leads to a piecewise adiabatic passage, which produces a time-bin entangled photon pair through the biexciton-exciton cascade. We show that the entanglement of the generated state can be measured using triple coincidence detection, and we quantify the degree of entanglement through the visibility of the interference. We also discuss the influence of pure dephasing on the entanglement of the generated photon pair. Pronounced interference visibility values of greater than $1/\sqrt{2}$ are predicted in triple coincidence measurement using experimentally achievable parameters, demonstrating that the generated photons could be suitable for applications such as Bell’s inequality violation and quantum cryptography.

• Received 8 October 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.83.245301