© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

Terms Privacy Legal Notice

arXiv:2205.08481 · ACS Photonics

Silicon Nitride Waveguides with Intrinsic Single-Photon Emitters for Integrated Quantum Photonics

Alexander V. Senichev, Samuel Peana, Zachariah O. Martin, Ömer Yeşilyurt, Demid Sychev, Alexei Lagutchev, Alexandra E. Boltasseva, Vladimir M. Shalaev

Published Sep 13, 2022• 57 citations

Abstract

The recent discovery of room-temperature intrinsic single-photon emitters in silicon nitride (SiN) 1 provides a unique opportunity for seamless monolithic integration of quantum light sources with the well-established SiN photonic platform. In this work, we successfully demonstrate the integration of intrinsic quantum emitters with planar waveguides composed of low-autofluorescence SiN and demonstrate single-photon emission coupling into the waveguide mode. The coupling of single-photon emission to the waveguide mode is confirmed by second-order autocorrelation measurements of light outcoupled off the photonic chip by grating couplers. Fitting the second-order autocorrelation histogram yields g (2) (0) = 0.15 ± 0.09 without spectral filtering or background correction, the outcoupled photon rate derived from saturation measurements is found to be 6 × 10 3 counts per second. This demonstrates the first successful coupling of photons from monolithically integrated SiN intrinsic single-photon emitters with waveguides composed of the same material. The results of our work pave the way toward the realization of scalable, technology-ready quantum photonic integrated circuitry efficiently interfaced with solid-state quantum emitters.

DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.2c00750

Related papers

Monolithic Integration of Quantum Emitters with Silicon Nitride Photonic Platform

Alexander V. Senichev, Samuel Peana, Zachariah O. Martin +5 more

Silicon nitride has great potential for integrated quantum photonics. We demonstrate monolithic integration of intrinsic quantum emitters in SiN with waveguides which show a room-temperature off-chip count rate of ~104 counts/s and clear antibunching behavior.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics•Jan 1, 2022•1 citation

Single-Photon Emitters in SiN Integrated Quantum Photonics

Alexander V. Senichev, Samuel Peana, Zachariah O. Martin +5 more

We report on the generation of single-photon emitters in silicon nitride. We demonstrate monolithic integration of these quantum emitters with silicon nitride waveguides showing a room-temperature off-chip count-rate of ~104 counts/s and clear antibunching behavior.

Quantum 2.0 Conference and Exhibition•Jan 1, 2022•0 citations

Bright High-Purity Quantum Emitters in Aluminum Nitride Integrated Photonics

Tsung‐Ju Lu, Benjamin Lienhard, Kwang‐Yong Jeong +4 more

Solid-state quantum emitters (QEs) are fundamental in photonic-based quantum information processing. There is strong interest to develop high-quality QEs in III-nitride semiconductors because of their sophisticated manufacturing driven by large and growing applications in optoelectronics, high voltage power transistors, and microwave amplifiers. Here, the generation and direct integration of QEs in an aluminum nitride-based photonic integrated circuit platform is reported. For individual waveguide-integrated QEs, an off-chip count rate exceeding 6 × 10 4 counts per second (cps; saturation rate >8.6 × 10 4 cps) is measured at room temperature under continuous-wave (CW) excitation. In an unpatterned thin-film sample, antibunching with g (2) (0) ∼ 0.08 and photon count rates exceeding 8 × 10 5 cps (saturation rate >1 × 10 6 cps) are measured at room temperature under CW excitation. Although spin and detailed optical line width measurements are left for future work, these results already show the potential for high-quality QEs monolithically integrated in a wide range of III-nitride device technologies that would enable new quantum device opportunities and industrial scalability.

ACS Photonics•Sep 21, 2020•56 citations

Silicon Nitride Integrated Photonics with Intrinsic Quantum Emitters

Alexander V. Senichev, Zachariah O. Martin, Samuel Peana +7 more

We create intrinsic quantum emitters in silicon nitride, study their structure and temperature-dependent optical properties, and demonstrate monolithic integration with photonic waveguides to evaluate the potential of these single-photon sources for quantum information applications.

Quantum 2.0 Conference and Exhibition•Jan 1, 2023•0 citations

Broadband enhancement of single photon emission and polarization dependent coupling in silicon nitride waveguides

Suzanne E. Bisschop, Antoine Guille, Dries Van Thourhout +2 more

Single-photon (SP) sources are important for a number of optical quantum information processing applications. We study the possibility to integrate triggered solid-state SP emitters directly on a photonic chip. A major challenge consists in efficiently extracting their emission into a single guided mode. Using 3D finite-difference time-domain simulations, we investigate the SP emission from dipole-like nanometer-sized inclusions embedded into different silicon nitride (SiNx) photonic nanowire waveguide designs. We elucidate the effect of the geometry on the emission lifetime and the polarization of the emitted SP. The results show that highly efficient and polarized SP sources can be realized using suspended SiNx slot-waveguides. Combining this with the well-established CMOS-compatible processing technology, fully integrated and complex optical circuits for quantum optics experiments can be developed.

Optics Express•May 18, 2015•11 citations

Bright high-purity quantum emitters in aluminium nitride integrated photonics

Tsung‐Ju Lu, Benjamin Lienhard, Kwang‐Yong Jeong +4 more

Solid-state quantum emitters (QEs) are fundamental in photonic-based quantum information processing. There is strong interest to develop high-quality QEs in III-nitride semiconductors because of their sophisticated manufacturing driven by large and growing applications in optoelectronics, high voltage power transistors, and microwave amplifiers. Here, we report the generation and direct integration of QEs in an aluminium nitride-based photonic integrated circuit platform. For individual waveguide-integrated QEs, we measure an off-chip count rate exceeding $6 \times 10^{4}$ counts per second (cps) (saturation rate > $8.6 \times 10^{4}$ cps). In an unpatterned thin-film sample, we measure antibunching with $g^{(2)}(0) \sim 0.05$ and photon count rates exceeding $8 \times 10^{5}$ cps (saturation rate > $1 \times 10^{6}$ cps). Although spin and detailed optical linewidth measurements are left for future work, these results already show the potential for high-quality QEs monolithically integrated in a wide range of III-nitride device technologies that would enable new quantum device opportunities and industrial scalability.

arXiv:2006.16276•Jun 29, 2020•0 citations

The recent discovery of room-temperature intrinsic single-photon emitters in silicon nitride (SiN) 1 provides a unique opportunity for seamless monolithic integration of quantum light sources with the well-established SiN photonic platform. In this work, we successfully demonstrate the integration of intrinsic quantum emitters with planar waveguides composed of low-autofluorescence SiN and demonstrate single-photon emission coupling into the waveguide mode. The coupling of single-photon emission to the waveguide mode is confirmed by second-order autocorrelation measurements of light outcoupled off the photonic chip by grating couplers. Fitting the second-order autocorrelation histogram yields g (2) (0) = 0.15 ± 0.09 without spectral filtering or background correction, the outcoupled photon rate derived from saturation measurements is found to be 6 × 10 3 counts per second. This demonstrates the first successful coupling of photons from monolithically integrated SiN intrinsic single-photon emitters with waveguides composed of the same material. The results of our work pave the way toward the realization of scalable, technology-ready quantum photonic integrated circuitry efficiently interfaced with solid-state quantum emitters.

Solid-state quantum emitters (QEs) are fundamental in photonic-based quantum information processing. There is strong interest to develop high-quality QEs in III-nitride semiconductors because of their sophisticated manufacturing driven by large and growing applications in optoelectronics, high voltage power transistors, and microwave amplifiers. Here, the generation and direct integration of QEs in an aluminum nitride-based photonic integrated circuit platform is reported. For individual waveguide-integrated QEs, an off-chip count rate exceeding 6 × 10 4 counts per second (cps; saturation rate >8.6 × 10 4 cps) is measured at room temperature under continuous-wave (CW) excitation. In an unpatterned thin-film sample, antibunching with g (2) (0) ∼ 0.08 and photon count rates exceeding 8 × 10 5 cps (saturation rate >1 × 10 6 cps) are measured at room temperature under CW excitation. Although spin and detailed optical line width measurements are left for future work, these results already show the potential for high-quality QEs monolithically integrated in a wide range of III-nitride device technologies that would enable new quantum device opportunities and industrial scalability.

Single-photon (SP) sources are important for a number of optical quantum information processing applications. We study the possibility to integrate triggered solid-state SP emitters directly on a photonic chip. A major challenge consists in efficiently extracting their emission into a single guided mode. Using 3D finite-difference time-domain simulations, we investigate the SP emission from dipole-like nanometer-sized inclusions embedded into different silicon nitride (SiNx) photonic nanowire waveguide designs. We elucidate the effect of the geometry on the emission lifetime and the polarization of the emitted SP. The results show that highly efficient and polarized SP sources can be realized using suspended SiNx slot-waveguides. Combining this with the well-established CMOS-compatible processing technology, fully integrated and complex optical circuits for quantum optics experiments can be developed.

Solid-state quantum emitters (QEs) are fundamental in photonic-based quantum information processing. There is strong interest to develop high-quality QEs in III-nitride semiconductors because of their sophisticated manufacturing driven by large and growing applications in optoelectronics, high voltage power transistors, and microwave amplifiers. Here, we report the generation and direct integration of QEs in an aluminium nitride-based photonic integrated circuit platform. For individual waveguide-integrated QEs, we measure an off-chip count rate exceeding

6 \times 10^{4}

counts per second (cps) (saturation rate >

8.6 \times 10^{4}

cps). In an unpatterned thin-film sample, we measure antibunching with

g^{(2)}(0) \sim 0.05

and photon count rates exceeding

8 \times 10^{5}

cps (saturation rate >

1 \times 10^{6}

cps). Although spin and detailed optical linewidth measurements are left for future work, these results already show the potential for high-quality QEs monolithically integrated in a wide range of III-nitride device technologies that would enable new quantum device opportunities and industrial scalability.