Towards integrated plasmonic quantum devices (Conference Presentation)

Abstract

Integrated quantum photonics imposes very stringent and often contradictory requirements on the design of integrated optical components. Many material platforms have been proposed and developed to host the future quantum optical systems. All of them feature fundamental limitations that invite to consider more complex, hybrid platforms. In this talk, we focus on the use of plasmonic materials for realizing quantum devices that possess properties not available with only dielectric materials. We present our work on fast room-temperature single-photon sources and specifically address the problem of efficient outcoupling of the plasmonic modes to the far-field. We demonstrate optical spin-state readout from nitrogen-vacancies in nanodiamonds through surface plasmon-polaritons and show that quantum registers and sensors based on these color centers can operate within nanoscale optical circuits. We also discuss how our novel approach combining plasmonics with optofluidics helps achieving fast and deterministic positioning of nanodiamonds in the vicinity of plasmonic antennas. This result promises scalable assembly techniques for more complex nanophotonic systems. With these new functionalities, plasmonic devices could play a decisive role in the engineering of tomorrow’s quantum photonic systems.