Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics with Quantum Dot - Photonic Crystal Nanocavities

High quality factor, small mode volume photonic crystal cavities and single emitter quantum dots are the topic of this dissertation. They are studied as both a combined system with InAs quantum dots grown in the center of a 2D GaAs photonic crystal slab nanocavity as well as individually. The individual studies are concerned with passive 1D silicon photonic crystal nanobeam cavities and deterministic, site-selectively grown arrays of InAs quantum dots.For the combined system, strong light matter coupling in a quantum dot photonic crystal slab nanocavity is discussed. Vacuum Rabi splitting is seen when the interaction strength exceeds the dissipative processes of the coupled system. In order to increase the probability of a spectral matching between cavity modes and quantum dot transitions, a technique for condensing an inert gas onto a sample is used. This can lead to a spectral tuning of up to 4 nm of the cavity mode with minimal change in the cavity quality factor while maintaining cryogenic temperatures down to 4 K. The effect of a large density of quantum dots within a quantum dot photonic crystal slab nanocavity is also addressed. Gain and absorption effects are found to occur, changing the cavity emission linewidth from that of its intrinsic value, as well as lasing with a low number of quantum dots and with high spontaneous emission coupling factors. Additionally, methods for improving the quality factor of GaAs photonic crystal cavities and better understanding different loss mechanisms are discussed.In the individual studies, the site-selective growth of InAs quantum dots on pre-structured GaAs wafers is shown as a promising method for the eventual deterministic fabrication of photonic crystal cavities to single quantum dots. An in-situ annealing step is used to reduce quantum dot density, helping ensure that dots are not grown in unwanted locations.Given silicon's potential for achieving higher quality factors than its GaAs counterpart, a study of 1D passive silicon photonic crystal nanobeam cavities is carried out. Transmission through a coupled microfiber is used to measure quality factors of the cavities and compared with that of a crossed polarized resonant scattering measurement