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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)

A planar dielectric antenna for directional single-photon emission and near-unity collection efficiency

Kwanggeol Lee, Xuewen Chen, Hadi Eghlidi, Alois Renn, Stephan Götzinger, Vahid Sandoghdar

Published May 1, 2011• 12 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Single photon sources have been discussed as the building blocks of quantum cryptography, optical quantum computation, spectroscopy, and metrology. However, when using sources based on single emitters, the success of these proposals depends on the ability to achieve near-unity collection efficiency into well-defined modes. Some of the current state-of-the-art efforts aimed at achieving these criteria have been demonstrated, but despite an impressive progress the results still fall short. In particular, a collection efficiency of 38% were reported using microresonators, while a nanowire device reached an efficiency of 72% at cryogenic temperatures. In this paper, the authors report on a broad-band room-temperature scheme, which uses a layered dielectric antenna for realizing ultra bright single photon sources with near-unity collection efficiency.

DOI
10.1109/cleoe.2011.5943376

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Single photon sources have been discussed as the building blocks of quantum cryptography, optical quantum computation, spectroscopy, and metrology. However, when using sources based on single emitters, the success of these proposals depends on the ability to achieve near-unity collection efficiency into well-defined modes. Some of the current state-of-the-art efforts aimed at achieving these criteria have been demonstrated, but despite an impressive progress the results still fall short. In particular, a collection efficiency of 38% were reported using microresonators, while a nanowire device reached an efficiency of 72% at cryogenic temperatures. In this paper, the authors report on a broad-band room-temperature scheme, which uses a layered dielectric antenna for realizing ultra bright single photon sources with near-unity collection efficiency.
In a previous paper [Nat. Photon. 5, 166 (2011)], we reported on a planar dielectric antenna that achieved 96% efficiency in collecting the photons emitted by a single molecule. In that work, the transition dipole moment of the molecule was set perpendicular to the antenna plane. Here, we present a theoretical extension of that scheme that reaches collection efficiencies beyond 99% for emitters with arbitrarily oriented dipole moments. Our work opens important doors in a wide range of contexts including quantum optics, quantum metrology, nanoanalytics, and biophysics. In particular, we provide antenna parameters to realize ultrabright single-photon sources in high-index materials such as semiconductor quantum dots and color centers in diamond, as well as sensitive detection of single molecules in nanofluidic devices.
At cryogenic temperatures, organic single-photon sources (SPSs) offer Fourier-limited emission, virtually unlimited photostability, and emission wavelengths selectable by molecular design, making them attractive for quantum metrology, secure communication, and photonic quantum information processing. However, their efficient integration with photonic microstructures has remained challenging, limiting photon collection from single organic emitters under cryogenic operation. Here, we demonstrate a cryogenic planar metallo-dielectric antenna that efficiently directs the emission of a single dibenzoterrylene (DBT) molecule towards the collection optics. The device reaches a collection efficiency of 97% and delivers 100 million photons per second into the first lens. We measure a photon indistinguishability for the Fourier-limited transition of 91.2% while maintaining a high single-photon purity of 97.7% under strong continuous-wave (CW) and pulsed excitation. These results establish organic molecules as a high-performance platform for single-photon generation and represent an important step towards scalable organic quantum photonic technologies.
A light source that emits single photons at well-defined times and into a well-defined mode would be a decisive asset for quantum information processing, quantum metrology, and sub-shot-noise detection of absorption. One of the central challenges in the realization of such a deterministic device based on a single quantum emitter concerns the collection of the photons, which are radiated into a 4 pi solid angle. Here, we present the fabrication and characterization of an optical antenna designed to convert the dipolar radiation of an arbitrarily oriented quantum emitter to a directional beam with more than 99% efficiency. Our approach is extremely versatile and can be used for more efficient detection of nanoscopic emitters ranging from semiconductor quantum dots to dye molecules, color centers, or rare-earth ions in various environments. Having addressed the issue of collection efficiency, we also discuss the photophysical limitations of the existing quantum emitters for the realization of a deterministic single-photon source. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America
Single photons are the key ingredient for many photonic quantum technologies including quantum key distribution and measurement-based quantum computing. However, it remains difficult to create devices with the appropriate specifications for use in non-laboratory environments. The optical microcavity platform provides an attractive route towards a room temperature single photon source device. Our ultra-small focused ion beam (FIB) milled open-access cavities offer enhancement of the spontaneous emission rate, tunability of the emission spectrum and increased light collection. The embedment of solid-state emitters within these cavities enables us to create a robust room temperature single photon source device, with the potential for high efficiencies and single photon purities. Defects such as the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre in diamond have been shown to be stable room-temperature sources of single photons. There are new single emitters emerging in two-dimensional materials such as hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Here we present developments in room-temperature coupling of single defects to open-access microcavities of a planar-hemispherical geometry with mode volumes down to λ3. We report enhancements in the spectral density of photons into a single cavity mode, combined with improved single photon purities. It will be shown that the NV-cavity system provides a ~3% single photon emission efficiency with purities of up to 94%. The hBN-cavity system provides count rates >1Mcts/s into a single cavity mode with purities up to 96%. With these high single photon purities, such devices would be robust against photon number splitting attacks making them attractive for applications in quantum cryptography.