Abstract
Abstract Striving for nanometer-sized solid-state single-photon sources, we investigate atom-like quantum emitters based on single germanium-vacancy (GeV) centers isolated in crystalline nanodiamonds (NDs). Cryogenic characterization indicated symmetry-protected and bright (>106 counts/s with off-resonance excitation) zero-phonon optical transitions with up to 6-fold enhancement in energy splitting of their ground states as compared to that found for GeV centers in bulk diamonds (i.e. up to 870 GHz in highly strained NDs vs. 150 GHz in bulk). Utilizing lithographic alignment techniques, we demonstrate an integrated nanophotonic platform for deterministic interfacing plasmonic waveguides with isolated GeV centers in NDs, which enables 10-fold enhancement of single-photon decay rates along with the emission direction control by judiciously designing and positioning a Bragg reflector. This approach allows one to realize the unidirectional emission from single-photon dipolar sources, thereby opening new perspectives for the realization of quantum optical integrated circuits.
Highlights
Efficient interfaces between single atoms and single photons are essential ingredients for building quantum optical networks, where atomic nodes are linking together via flying photons [1, 2]
Striving for nanometer-sized solid-state singlephoton sources, we investigate atom-like quantum emitters based on single germanium-vacancy (GeV) centers isolated in crystalline nanodiamonds (NDs)
Imitating the natural formation of diamonds underneath the earth, diamond crystals were grown at the nanometer scale, under a high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) condition, and Ge defect atoms were added during the growth in a hydrocarbon metal catalyst-free system based on homogeneous mixtures of naphthalene C10H8 with tetraphenyl germanium C24H20Ge
Summary
Efficient interfaces between single atoms and single photons are essential ingredients for building quantum optical networks, where atomic nodes (quantum emitters) are linking together via flying photons (qubits) [1, 2]. The large energy splitting in the ground state implies a potentially longer spin coherence due to the suppressed phonon-mediated transitions between the lower and upper branches [17, 32] This opens new perspectives for deterministic interfacing of isolated atoms with photons along with merging quantum emitters with highly confined surface plasmons in metal-based nanostructures [5, 33,34,35]. Utilizing lithographic alignment techniques [30, 34, 36, 37], we demonstrate an integrated nanophotonic platform for deterministic interfacing plasmonic waveguides with isolated GeV centers in NDs, which enables 10-fold enhancement of single-photon decay rates along with the emission direction control by judiciously designing and positioning a Bragg reflector This approach allows one to realize the unidirectional emission from single-photon dipolar sources, thereby opening new perspectives for integrated quantum nanophotonics
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