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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

Hybrid quantum nanophotonic devices for coupling to rare-earth ions

Evan Miyazono, Alex Hartz, Tian Zhong, Andrei Faraon

Published Mar 4, 2015• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

With an assortment of narrow line-width transitions spanning the visible and IR spectrum and long spin coherence times, rare-earth doped crystals are the leading material system for solid-state quantum memories. Integrating these materials in an on-chip optical platform would create opportunities for highly integrated light-matter interfaces for quantum communication and quantum computing. Nano-photonic resonators with high quality factors and small mode volumes are required for efficient on-chip coupling to the small dipole moment of rare-earth ion transitions. However, direct fabrication of optical cavities in these crystals with current nanofabrication techniques is difficult and unparallelized, as either exotic etch chemistries or physical milling processes are required. We fabricated hybrid devices by mechanically transferring a nanoscale membrane of gallium arsenide (GaAs) onto a neodymium-doped yttrium silicon oxide (Y2SiO5) crystal and then using electron beam lithography and standard III-V dry etching to pattern nanobeam photonic crystal cavities and ring resonator cavities, a technique that is easily adapted to other frequency ranges for arbitrary dopants in any rare earth host system. Single crystalline GaAs was chosen for its low loss and high refractive index at the transition wavelength. We demonstrated the potential to evanescently couple between the cavity field and the 883 nm 4I9/2- 4F3/2 transition of nearby neodymium impurities in the host crystal by examining transmission spectra through a waveguide coupled to the resonator with a custom-built confocal microscope. The prospects and requirements for using this system for scalable quantum networks are discussed.

DOI
10.1117/12.2077540

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With an assortment of narrow line-width transitions spanning the visible and IR spectrum and long spin coherence times, rare-earth doped crystals are the leading material system for solid-state quantum memories. Integrating these materials in an on-chip optical platform would create opportunities for highly integrated light-matter interfaces for quantum communication and quantum computing. Nano-photonic resonators with high quality factors and small mode volumes are required for efficient on-chip coupling to the small dipole moment of rare-earth ion transitions. However, direct fabrication of optical cavities in these crystals with current nanofabrication techniques is difficult and unparallelized, as either exotic etch chemistries or physical milling processes are required. We fabricated hybrid devices by mechanically transferring a nanoscale membrane of gallium arsenide (GaAs) onto a neodymium-doped yttrium silicon oxide (Y2SiO5) crystal and then using electron beam lithography and standard III-V dry etching to pattern nanobeam photonic crystal cavities and ring resonator cavities, a technique that is easily adapted to other frequency ranges for arbitrary dopants in any rare earth host system. Single crystalline GaAs was chosen for its low loss and high refractive index at the transition wavelength. We demonstrated the potential to evanescently couple between the cavity field and the 883 nm 4I9/2- 4F3/2 transition of nearby neodymium impurities in the host crystal by examining transmission spectra through a waveguide coupled to the resonator with a custom-built confocal microscope. The prospects and requirements for using this system for scalable quantum networks are discussed.
Quantum light-matter interfaces that reversibly map the quantum state of photons onto the quantum states of atoms, are essential components in the quantum engineering toolbox with applications in quantum communication, computing, and quantum-enabled sensing. In this talk I present our progress towards developing on-chip quantum light-matter interfaces based on nanophotonic resonators fabricated in rare-earth-doped crystals known to exhibit the longest optical and spin coherence times in the solid state. We recently demonstrated coherent control of neodymium (Nd3+) ions coupled to yttrium orthosilicate Y2SiO5 (YSO) photonic crystal nano-beam resonator. The coupling of the Nd3+ 883 nm 4I9/2-4F3/2 transition to the nano-resonator results in a 40 fold enhancement of the transition rate (Purcell effect), and increased optical absorption (~80%) - adequate for realizing efficient optical quantum memories via cavity impedance matching. Optical coherence times T2 up to 100 μs with low spectral diffusion were measured for ions embedded in photonic crystals, which are comparable to those observed in unprocessed bulk samples. This indicates that the remarkable coherence properties of REIs are preserved during nanofabrication process. Multi-temporal mode photon storage using stimulated photon echo and atomic frequency comb (AFC) protocols were implemented in these nano-resonators. Our current technology can be readily transferred to Erbium (Er) doped YSO devices, therefore opening the possibility of efficient on-chip optical quantum memory at 1.5 μm telecom wavelength. Integration with superconducting qubits can lead to devices for reversible quantum conversion of optical photons to microwave photons.
The growing interest in optical quantum systems has led to the exploration of multiple platforms. Though pioneering experiments were performed in trapped atom and trapped ion systems, solid state systems show promise of being scalable and robust. Rare earth dopants in crystalline hosts are an appealing option because they possess a rich spectrum of energy levels that result from a partially filled electron orbital. While level structure varies across the period, all elements possess crystal field splittings corresponding to near infra-red or optical frequencies, as well as Zeeman and often hyperfine levels separated by radio frequency and microwave frequencies. These levels demonstrate long excited-state lifetimes and coherence times and have been used in diverse applications, including demonstrating storage of a photonic state, converting of optical to microwave photons, and manipulating a single ion as a single qubit. The ions' weak interaction with their environment results in low coupling to optical fields, which had previously required measurements with macroscopically large ensembles of ions. Coupling the ions to an optical cavity enables the use of a smaller ensemble, which is required for the development of the aforementioned technologies in an on-chip scalable architecture. This thesis contains recent progress towards fabricating optical micro and nanocavities coupled to ensembles of erbium ions, mainly erbium in yttrium orthosilicate. In one design, focused ion beam milling was used to create a triangular nanobeam photonic crystal cavity in a bulk erbium-doped substrate. A second design leveraged the fabrication capabilities of silicon photonics, defining amorphous silicon ring resonators using electron beam lithography and dry etching. These devices coupled evanescently to erbium ions below the ring, in the bulk substrate. Simulation, design, fabrication, and characterization of both resonators are discussed. Coupling between the ions and the resonator is demonstrated for each, and capabilities offered by these devices are described. Preliminary work implementing coherent control of erbium ions is presented. Lastly, alternative substrates are evaluated for possible future solid-state erbium systems.
Quantum light-matter interfaces connecting stationary qubits to photons will enable optical networks for quantum communications, precise global time keeping, photon switching and studies of fundamental physics. Rare-earth-ion-doped crystals are state-of-the-art materials for optical quantum memories and quantum transducers between optical photons, microwave photons and spin waves. Here we demonstrate coupling of an ensemble of neodymium rare-earth-ions to photonic nanocavities fabricated in the yttrium orthosilicate host crystal. Cavity quantum electrodynamics effects including Purcell enhancement (F=42) and dipole-induced transparency are observed on the highly coherent (4)I(9/2)-(4)F(3/2) optical transition. Fluctuations in the cavity transmission due to statistical fine structure of the atomic density are measured, indicating operation at the quantum level. Coherent optical control of cavity-coupled rare-earth ions is performed via photon echoes. Long optical coherence times (T2∼100 μs) and small inhomogeneous broadening are measured for the cavity-coupled rare-earth ions, thus demonstrating their potential for on-chip scalable quantum light-matter interfaces.
Numerous bulk crystalline materials exhibit attractive nonlinear and luminescent properties for classical and quantum optical applications. A chip-scale platform for high quality factor optical nanocavities in these materials will enable new optoelectronic devices and quantum light-matter interfaces. In this article, photonic crystal nanobeam resonators fabricated using focused ion beam milling in bulk insulators, such as rare-earth doped yttrium orthosilicate and yttrium vanadate, are demonstrated. Operation in the visible, near infrared, and telecom wavelengths with quality factors up to 27,000 and optical mode volumes close to one cubic wavelength is measured. These devices enable new nanolasers, on-chip quantum optical memories, single photon sources, and non-linear devices at low photon numbers based on rare-earth ions. The techniques are also applicable to other luminescent centers and crystal.
Rare-earth-ion doped crystals are state-of-the-art materials for optical quantum memories and quantum transducers between optical and microwave photons. Here we describe our progress towards a nanophotonic quantum memory based on a rare-earth (Neodymium) doped yttrium orthosilicate (YSO) photonic crystal resonator. The Purcell-enhanced coupling of the 883 nm transitions of Neodymium (Nd3+) ions to the nano-resonator results in increased optical depth, which could in principle facilitate highly efficient photon storage via cavity impedance matching. The atomic frequency comb (AFC) memory protocol can be implemented in the Nd:YSO nano-resonator by efficient optical pumping into the long-lived Zeeman state. Coherent optical signals can be stored and retrieved from the AFC memory. We currently measure a storage efficiency on par with a bulk crystal Nd:YSO memory that is millimeters long. Our results will enable multiplexed on-chip quantum storage and thus quantum repeater devices using rare-earth-ions.