Photons play a crucial role in quantum applications due to their ability to encode quantum information in various degrees of freedom and transmit it at the speed of light. The quantum states of photons are exceptionally robust against decoherence since photons interact relatively weakly with matter. However, this weak light-matter interaction also limits the rate of quantum photonic operations such as single photon generation or photon-photon interactions. Plasmonic metamaterials can improve light-matter interaction and dramatically speed up quantum photonic processes. In this work, we give an overview of our research efforts regarding the application of plasmonics for spontaneous emission enhancement to enable high-speed bright quantum emitters. The ultimate goal is to enhance the spontaneous emission rate beyond the dephasing rate typical for solid-state quantum emitters at cryo-free temperatures. This would enable the generation of indistinguishable photons without the need of a cryostat. We report on the engineering of solid-state quantum emitters in material platforms such as hexagonal boron nitride and silicon nitride suitable for coupling with plasmonic metamaterials and integrated quantum photonics.
Our group recently discovered bright, stable, linearly polarized, and high-purity sources of single-photon emission at room temperature in SiN. Currently, we study the possibility of generating indistinguishable photons by plasmonic speed-up of photoemission, which may enable broader applications of SiN single-photon sources in quantum information technology. The enhancement of the light-matter interaction with plasmonic materials can shorten the spontaneous emission time to beat the dephasing time and achieve coherence even at non-cryogenic temperatures. Our findings spark further studies of quantum emitters toward deeper understanding of their nature, deterministic formation, and scalable integration with on-chip quantum photonic circuitry.
Discovering novel, unconventional optical designs in combination with advanced machine-learning assisted data analysis techniques can uniquely enable new phenomena and breakthrough advances in many areas including imaging, sensing, energy, and quantum information technology. It demonstrated that compared to other inverse-design approaches that require extreme computation power to undertake a comprehensive search within a large parameter space, machine learning assisted topology optimization can expand the design space while improving the computational efficiency. This talk will highlight our most recent findings on 1) merging topology optimization with artificial-intelligence-assisted algorithms and 2) integrating machine-learning based analysis with photonic design and quantum optical measurements.
Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond have been long used for spin-based optical sensing and also considered viable candidates for implementing quantum information protocols using their spin degree of freedom. Their nanoscale size and the possibility of optical spin readout make them particularly attractive for the use in integrated nanophotonic and quantum optical devices. We will discuss how the optical Purcell effect in plasmonic systems affects the NV spin readout signal and present the demonstration of this readout through optical plasmons in an integrated nanophotonic interface. We will show that spin relaxometry is a powerful tool that allows to probe the magnonic density of states and its electrical tuning with sub-um spatial resolution. Furthermore, we will discuss how spin signal readout sensitivity can be enhanced with the use of plasmonic nanostructures deterministically assembled on the nanoscale.
Controlling the permittivity of materials enables control over the amplitude, phase and polarization of light interacting with them. Tailorable and tunable transparent conducting oxides have applications in optical switching, beam steering, imaging, sensing, and spectroscopy.
In this work, we experimentally demonstrate wide tailoring and tuning of the optical properties of oxides to achieve fast switching with large modulation depths. In cadmium oxide, the permittivity and the epsilon-near-zero points can be tailored via yttrium doping to achieve large, ENZ-enhanced mid-IR reflectance modulation. In zinc oxide, the permittivity is tuned by interband pumping, achieving large reflectance modulation in the telecom regime. With aluminum-doped zinc oxide, we demonstrate tailorable Berreman-type absorbers that can achieve ultrafast switching in the telecom frequencies. Our work will pave the way to practical optical switching spanning the telecom to the mid-infrared wavelength regimes.
Metal-based nanostructures made from low-loss plasmonic materials allow a targeted and strong enhancement of light-matter interaction in a broad wavelength range. As a result, the far-field single-photon emission rates from solid-state quantum defects can overcome both the rate of dipole dephasing and that of plasmon absorption in metals. This approach promises the advent of single-photon sources featuring bitrates up to the THz range and operating at cryogen-free temperatures. We establish simple and intuitive fundamental enhancement limits for plasmonic systems coupled to quantum emitters and present practical methods for achieving these advantageous regimes.
Low-loss plasmonic materials offer unique opportunities for quantum information applications. A strongly targeted enhancement of light-matter interaction can be used to speed up spontaneous emission of single photons by solid-state defects by several orders of magnitude, even at room temperature. We have developed several methods for the on-chip integration of such plasmon-enhanced single-photon sources. We also present some applications of plasmonic materials for the active control of solid-state spins. In the future, integrated plasmon-enhanced devices can be used as a platform for cryogen-free high-speed integrated quantum photonics.
Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond have been long used for spin-based optical sensing and considered viable candidates for implementing spin-based quantum information protocols. Their unique advantages include their nanoscale size and the optical readout of the electron spin state. These features make them particularly fit for the use in integrated nanophotonic and quantum optical devices. We will discuss how the optical Purcell effect in plasmonic systems affects the NV spin readout signal and present the demonstration of this readout through optical plasmons in an integrated nanophotonic interface. We will show that spin relaxometry is a powerful tool that allows to probe the magnonic density of states and its electrical tuning with sub-um spatial resolution. Furthermore, we will discuss how spin signal readout sensitivity can be enhanced with the use of plasmonic nanostructures and Bayesian measurement methods.
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