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Physical Review Applied

Near-infrared hybrid quantum photonic interface for 171Yb3+ solid-state qubits

Chun-Ju Wu, Daniel Riedel, Andrei Ruskuc, Ding Zhong, Hyounghan Kwon, Andrei Faraon

Published Oct 6, 2023• 13 citations
Publisher

Abstract

${}^{171}$Yb${}^{3+}$ ions in yttrium orthovanadate are promising candidates for building quantum networks, based on their excellent optical and spin properties and access to a secondary nuclear-spin quantum register. In this study the authors transfer GaAs photonic crystal nanobeam resonators to the surface of the host YVO${}_{4}$ to enhance the optical transitions of the Yb${}^{3+}$ ions and efficiently collect the emitted photons. This hybrid quantum photonic interface facilitates addressing of single Yb${}^{3+}$ ions and paves the way for the implementation of a scalable photonic architecture in the near infrared.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.20.044018

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171{}^{171}171Yb3+{}^{3+}3+ ions in yttrium orthovanadate are promising candidates for building quantum networks, based on their excellent optical and spin properties and access to a secondary nuclear-spin quantum register. In this study the authors transfer GaAs photonic crystal nanobeam resonators to the surface of the host YVO4{}_{4}4​ to enhance the optical transitions of the Yb3+{}^{3+}3+ ions and efficiently collect the emitted photons. This hybrid quantum photonic interface facilitates addressing of single Yb3+{}^{3+}3+ ions and paves the way for the implementation of a scalable photonic architecture in the near infrared.
A hybrid quantum photonic interface for 171^{171}171Yb solid-state qubits
171^{171}171Yb3+^{3+}3+ in YVO4_44​ is a promising candidate for building quantum networks with good optical addressability, excellent spin properties and a secondary nuclear-spin quantum register. However, the associated long optical lifetime necessitates coupling to optical resonators for faster emission of single photons and to facilitate control of single 171^{171}171Yb ions. Previously, single 171^{171}171Yb ions were addressed by coupling them to monolithic photonic crystal cavities fabricated via lengthy focused ion beam milling. Here, we design and fabricate a hybrid platform based on ions coupled to the evanescently decaying field of a GaAs photonic crystal cavity. We experimentally detect and demonstrate coherent optical control of single 171^{171}171Yb ions. For the most strongly coupled ions, we find a 64 fold reduction in lifetime. The results show a promising route towards a quantum network with 171^{171}171Yb:YVO4_44​ using a highly scalable platform.
Rare-earth ion crystals are a promising platform for implementing solid-state quantum interfaces, yet there are few combinations of rare-earth and host crystals that simultaneously deliver large optical absorption, narrow inhomogeneous linewidths, and long coherence times. This work investigates the optical and spin properties of 171{}^{171}171Yb3+{}^{3+}3+ ions in YVO4{}_{4}4​. The observed properties and simple energy-level structure of the 171{}^{171}171Yb3+{}^{3+}3+ ion show that this material has significant potential for creating efficient quantum interfaces, such as ensemble-based memories, microwave-to-optical transducers, and optically addressable single rare-earth ion spin qubits.
Quantum light-matter interfaces that can reversibly map quantum information between photons and atoms are essential for building future quantum networks. Crystals doped with rare-earth ions (REIs) are an attractive solid-state platform for such light-matter interfaces due to their exceptional optical and spin coherence properties at cryogenic temperatures. Building scalable REI-based technology has proven to be challenging due to the inherently weak coupling of REIs with light. This thesis explores the integration of REIs with nanophotonic resonators to overcome this weak light-matter interaction and enable efficient, scalable quantum light-matter interfaces. Specifically, this work focuses on the development of quantum nanophotonics with ytterbium in yttrium orthovanadate. This thesis begins with an introduction to a nanophotonic platform based on photonic crystal cavities fabricated directly in rare-earth host materials and highlights the initial successes of this platform with neodymium-doped materials. This motivates an examination of the optical and spin coherence properties of 171Yb:YVO4, a REI material that was previously unexplored for quantum technology applications. This material is found to have strong optical transitions compared to other REI-doped materials, a simple energy level structure, and long optical and spin coherence lifetimes. The focus then turns to the detection and coherent manipulation of single ytterbium ions coupled to nanophotonic cavities. The Purcell-enhancement in these cavities enables efficient optical detection and spin initialization of individual ytterbium ions. We identify ions corresponding to different isotopes of ytterbium and show that the coupling of electron and nuclear spin in ytterbium-171 at zero-field gives rise to strong electron-spin-like transitions that are first-order insensitive to magnetic field fluctuations. This allows for coherent microwave control and the observation of long spin coherence lifetimes at temperatures up to 1 K. We then make use of the optical selection rules and energy structure of 171Yb:YVO4 to demonstrate high-fidelity single-shot optical readout of the spin state. These results establish nanophotonic devices in 171Yb:YVO4 as a promising platform for solid-state quantum light-matter interfaces.
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.
Optical nanocavities enable a strong interaction between single photons and single emitters. An appealing application is the construction of a quantum interface for photonic and solid state qubits. Since the material of the solid state qubit is often dierent from the nanocavity, there has been considerable interest in combining the two in a hybrid architecture. We describe our recent development of such a hybrid interface based a Gallium Phosphide photonic crystal nanocavity that is scanned and deterministically coupled to single emitters on a surface. The technique is used to couple the cavity to the nitrogen vacancy center in diamond, an emitter system with optically accessible electron spins and the ability to transfer electronic spin states to nuclear spins.
We demonstrate optical probing of spectrally resolved single Nd^{3+} rare-earth ions in yttrium orthovanadate. The ions are coupled to a photonic crystal resonator and show strong enhancement of the optical emission rate via the Purcell effect, resulting in near radiatively limited single photon emission. The measured high coupling cooperativity between a single photon and the ion allows for the observation of coherent optical Rabi oscillations. This could enable optically controlled spin qubits, quantum logic gates, and spin-photon interfaces for future quantum networks.