Hybrid Quantum Photonics Based on Artificial Atoms Placed Inside One Hole of a Photonic Crystal Cavity
Konstantin G. Fehler, Lukas Antoniuk, Niklas Lettner, Anna P. Ovvyan, Richard Waltrich, Nico Gruhler, Валерий Александрович Давыдов, V. Agafonov, Wolfram H. P. Pernice, Alexander Kubanek
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Spin-based, quantum-photonics promise to realize distributed quantum computing and quantum networks. The performance depends on an efficient entanglement distribution where cavity quantum electrodynamics could boost the efficiency. The central challenge is the development of compact devices with large spin-photon coupling rates and a high operation bandwidth. Photonic crystal cavities comprise strong field confinement but require highly accurate positioning of atomic systems in mode field maxima. Negatively charged silicon-vacancy centers in diamond emerged as promising atom-like systems. Spectral stability and access to long-lived, nuclear-spin memories enabled elementary demonstrations of quantum network nodes, including memory-enhanced quantum communication. In a hybrid approach, we deterministically place SiV-containing nanodiamonds inside one hole of one-dimensional, freestanding, Si 3 N 4 -based photonic crystal cavities and coherently couple individual optical transitions to cavity modes. We optimize light–matter coupling utilizing two-mode composition, waveguiding, Purcell-enhancement, and cavity-resonance tuning. The resulting photon flux increases by 14 compared to free space. Corresponding lifetime-shortening below 460 ps puts potential operation bandwidth beyond GHz rates.
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Spin-based, quantum-photonics promise to realize distributed quantum computing and quantum networks. The performance depends on an efficient entanglement distribution where cavity quantum electrodynamics could boost the efficiency. The central challenge is the development of compact devices with large spin-photon coupling rates and a high operation bandwidth. Photonic crystal cavities comprise strong field confinement but require highly accurate positioning of atomic systems in mode field maxima. Negatively charged silicon-vacancy centers in diamond emerged as promising atom-like systems. Spectral stability and access to long-lived, nuclear-spin memories enabled elementary demonstrations of quantum network nodes, including memory-enhanced quantum communication. In a hybrid approach, we deterministically place SiV-containing nanodiamonds inside one hole of one-dimensional, freestanding, Si 3 N 4 -based photonic crystal cavities and coherently couple individual optical transitions to cavity modes. We optimize light–matter coupling utilizing two-mode composition, waveguiding, Purcell-enhancement, and cavity-resonance tuning. The resulting photon flux increases by 14 compared to free space. Corresponding lifetime-shortening below 460 ps puts potential operation bandwidth beyond GHz rates.
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Nanophotonic quantum devices can significantly boost light–matter interaction, which is important for applications such as quantum networks. Reaching a high interaction strength between an optical transition of a spin system and a single mode of light is an essential step that demands precise control over all degrees of freedom of the optical coupling. While current devices have reached a high accuracy of emitter positioning, the placement process remains overall statistically, reducing the device fabrication yield. Furthermore, not all degrees of freedom of the optical coupling can be controlled, limiting the device performance. Here, we develop a hybrid approach based on negatively charged silicon vacancy center in nanodiamonds coupled to a mode of a Si 3 N 4 -photonic crystal cavity, where all terms of the coupling strength can be controlled individually. We used the frequency of coherent Rabi oscillations and line-broadening as a measure of the device performance. This allows for iterative optimization of the position and rotation of the dipole with respect to individual preselected modes of light. Therefore, our work marks an important step for optimization of hybrid quantum photonics and enables us to align device simulations with real device performance.
Hybrid quantum photonic systems connect classical photonics to the quantum world and promise to deliver efficient light-matter quantum interfaces while leveraging the advantages of both, the classical and the quantum, subsystems. However, combining efficient, scalable photonics and solid-state quantum systems with desirable optical and spin properties remains a formidable challenge. In particular, the access to individual spin states and coherent mapping to photons remains unsolved for hybrid systems. In this paper, we demonstrate all-optical initialization and readout of the electron spin of a negatively charged silicon-vacancy center in a nanodiamond coupled to a silicon nitride photonic crystal cavity. We characterize relevant parameters of the coupled emitter-cavity system and determine the silicon-vacancy center’s spin-relaxation and spin-decoherence rate. Our results mark a key step towards the realization of a hybrid spin-photon interface based on silicon nitride photonics and the silicon-vacancy center’s electron spin in nanodiamonds with potential use for quantum networks, quantum communication, and distributed quantum computation. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Efficient interfaces between optical photons and quantum bits are fundamental building blocks for quantum networks and large-scale quantum computers. We demonstrate an integrated platform for scalable quantum optics based on color centers coupled to diamond nanodevices. First, we incorporate nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond into hybrid nanophotonic crystal cavities. Despite our progress towards coupling the NV to cavity photons, we find that the NV-cavity interface is limited by the imperfections of the color center's properties and its local environment. We approach this challenge first by characterizing and modifying the diamond surface to reduce the environmental noise affecting the NV optical transition. Subsequently, we develop a new approach that makes use of a quantum emitter with intrinsic protection from this noise: the silicon-vacancy (SiV) center in diamond. We demonstrate that SiV centers introduced through ion implantation feature highly coherent optical transitions, even inside nanostructures. By placing SiV centers inside all-diamond photonic crystal cavities, we achieve strong SiV-photon coupling with a cooperativity of greater than 20. Using this platform, we realize a quantum-optical switch controlled by the spin degree of freedom of a single SiV. By measuring intensity correlations of indistinguishable Raman photons emitted into a single waveguide, we observe a quantum interference effect resulting from the superradiant emission of two probabilistically entangled SiV centers. Finally, we demonstrate controllable photon-mediated interactions between the spin degrees of freedom of two cavity-coupled SiV centers. When the optical transitions of the two SiV centers are tuned into resonance, the coupling of each SiV to the common cavity mode results in a coherent interaction between the two SiVs, leading to the observation of super- and sub-radiant two-SiV states.
The realization of quantum networks critically depends on establishing efficient, coherent light-matter interfaces. Optically active spins in diamond have emerged as promising quantum nodes based on their spin-selective optical transitions, long-lived spin ground states, and potential for integration with nanophotonics. Tin-vacancy (SnV-) centers in diamond are of particular interest because they exhibit narrow-linewidth emission in nanostructures and possess long spin coherence times at temperatures above 1 K. However, a nanophotonic interface for SnV- centers has not yet been realized. Here, we report cavity enhancement of the emission of SnV- centers in diamond. We integrate SnV- centers into one-dimensional photonic crystal resonators and observe a 40-fold increase in emission intensity. The Purcell factor of the coupled system is 25, resulting in channeling of the majority of photons (90%) into the cavity mode. Our results pave the way for the creation of efficient, scalable spin-photon interfaces based on SnV- centers in diamond.
Nanophotonic quantum devices can significantly boost light-matter interaction which is important for applications such as quantum networks. Reaching a high interaction strength between an optical transition of a spin system and a single mode of light is an essential step which demands precise control over all degrees of freedom of the optical coupling. While current devices have reached a high accuracy of emitter positioning, the placement process remains overall statistically, reducing the device fabrication yield. Furthermore, not all degrees of freedom of the optical coupling can be controlled limiting the device performance. Here, we develop a hybrid approach based on negatively-charged silicon-vacancy center in nanodiamonds coupled to a mode of a Si3N4-photonic crystal cavity, where all terms of the coupling strength can be controlled individually. We use the frequency of coherent Rabi-oscillations and line-broadening as a measure of the device performance. This allows for iterative optimization of the position and the rotation of the dipole with respect to individual, preselected modes of light. Therefore, our work marks an important step for optimization of hybrid quantum photonics and enables to align device simulations with real device performance.
Quantum networks hold the potential to enable quantum-secured communication, distributed quantum computing, and non-local quantum sensing. To realize these applications, a versatile quantum network infrastructure must support entanglement between network nodes capable of storing, processing, and distributing quantum information, alongside high-fidelity photonic qubits that efficiently interface with these nodes. The silicon-vacancy (SiV) center in diamond, coupled to nanophotonic cavities, has recently emerged as a promising platform to meet these requirements. This system provides access to an electron spin as an optically active communication qubit and a 29Si nuclear spin as a memory qubit, capable of storing quantum information for extended periods. We first demonstrate that the SiV center's electron spin can efficiently generate single photons with complex spatiotemporal waveforms, facilitated by a novel asymmetric nanophotonic cavity design. We then establish a two-node quantum network between two SiV centers housed in separate laboratories and connected via optical fiber. To do so, we use photonic qubits to mediate entanglement between two spatially separated electron spins, as well as between two spatially separated nuclear spins. Finally, using bidirectional quantum frequency conversion, we convert the photonic qubits to telecommunication frequencies, enabling entanglement generation between the two nuclear spins via a 35 km fiber deployed in the Boston metropolitan area. These advancements mark progress toward large-scale, deployable quantum networks using SiV centers coupled to nanophotonic cavities.