skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Multiplexed color centers in a silicon photonic cavity array
Entanglement distribution is central to the modular scaling of quantum processors and establishing quantum networks. Color centers with telecom-band transitions and long spin coherence times are suitable candidates for long-distance entanglement distribution. However, high-bandwidth memory-enhanced quantum communication is limited by high-yield, scalable creation of efficient spin-photon interfaces. Here, we develop a silicon photonics platform consisting of arrays of bus-coupled cavities. The coupling to a common bus waveguide enables simultaneous access to individually addressable cavity-enhanced T center arrays. We demonstrate frequency-multiplexed operation of two T centers in separate photonic crystal cavities. In addition, we investigate the cavity enhancement of a T center through hybridized modes formed between physically distant cavities. Our results show that bus-coupled arrays of cavity-enhanced color centers could enable efficient on-chip and long-distance entanglement distribution.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2137645
PAR ID:
10663246
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Optica
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Optica
Volume:
12
Issue:
9
ISSN:
2334-2536
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1400
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract A key challenge in realizing practical quantum networks for long-distance quantum communication involves robust entanglement between quantum memory nodes connected by fibre optical infrastructure1–3. Here we demonstrate a two-node quantum network composed of multi-qubit registers based on silicon-vacancy (SiV) centres in nanophotonic diamond cavities integrated with a telecommunication fibre network. Remote entanglement is generated by the cavity-enhanced interactions between the electron spin qubits of the SiVs and optical photons. Serial, heralded spin-photon entangling gate operations with time-bin qubits are used for robust entanglement of separated nodes. Long-lived nuclear spin qubits are used to provide second-long entanglement storage and integrated error detection. By integrating efficient bidirectional quantum frequency conversion of photonic communication qubits to telecommunication frequencies (1,350 nm), we demonstrate the entanglement of two nuclear spin memories through 40 km spools of low-loss fibre and a 35-km long fibre loop deployed in the Boston area urban environment, representing an enabling step towards practical quantum repeaters and large-scale quantum networks. 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract Silicon carbide is evolving as a prominent solid-state platform for the realization of quantum information processing hardware. Angle-etched nanodevices are emerging as a solution to photonic integration in bulk substrates where color centers are best defined. We model triangular cross-section waveguides and photonic crystal cavities using Finite-Difference Time-Domain and Finite-Difference Eigensolver approaches. We analyze optimal color center positioning within the modes of these devices and provide estimates on achievable Purcell enhancement in nanocavities with applications in quantum communications. Using open quantum system modeling, we explore emitter-cavity interactions of multiple non-identical color centers coupled to both a single cavity and a photonic crystal molecule in SiC. We observe polariton and subradiant state formation in the cavity-protected regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics applicable in quantum simulation. 
    more » « less
  3. Abstract Novel T centers in silicon hold great promise for quantum networking applications due to their telecom band optical transitions and the long-lived ground state electronic spins. An open challenge for advancing the T center platform is to enhance its weak and slow zero phonon line (ZPL) emission. In this work, by integrating single T centers with a low-loss, small mode-volume silicon photonic crystal cavity, we demonstrate an enhancement of the fluorescence decay rate by a factor ofF = 6.89. Efficient photon extraction enables the system to achieve an average ZPL photon outcoupling rate of 73.3 kHz under saturation, which is about two orders of magnitude larger than the previously reported value. The dynamics of the coupled system is well modeled by solving the Lindblad master equation. These results represent a significant step towards building efficient T center spin-photon interfaces for quantum information processing and networking applications. 
    more » « less
  4. A central challenge in quantum networking is transferring quantum states between different physical modalities, such as between flying photonic qubits and stationary quantum memories. One implementation entails using spin–photon interfaces that combine solid-state spin qubits, such as color centers in diamond, with photonic nanostructures. However, while high-fidelity spin–photon interactions have been demonstrated on isolated devices, building practical quantum repeaters requires scaling to large numbers of interfaces yet to be realized. Here, we demonstrate integration of nanophotonic cavities containing tin-vacancy (SnV) centers in a photonic integrated circuit (PIC). Out of a six-channel quantum microchiplet (QMC), we find four coupled SnV-cavity devices with an average Purcell factor of ∼7. Based on system analyses and numerical simulations, we find with near-term improvements this multiplexed architecture can enable high-fidelity quantum state transfer, paving the way toward building large-scale quantum repeaters. 
    more » « less
  5. Abstract Color centers in the O-band (1260–1360 nm) are crucial for realizing long-coherence quantum network nodes in memory-assisted quantum communications. However, only a limited number of O-band color centers have been thoroughly explored in silicon hosts as spin-photon interfaces. This study explores and compares two promising O-band color centers in silicon for high-fidelity spin-photon interfaces: T and *Cu (transition metal) centers. During T center generation process, we observed the formation and dissolution of other color centers, including the copper-silver related centers with a doublet line around 1312 nm (*$${{{\rm{Cu}}}}_{n}^{0}$$ Cu n 0 ), near the optical fiber zero dispersion wavelength (around 1310 nm). We then investigated the photophysics of both T and *Cu centers, focusing on their emission spectra and spin properties. The *$${{{\rm{Cu}}}}_{0}^{0}$$ Cu 0 0 line under a 0.5 T magnetic field demonstrated a 25% broadening, potentially due to spin degeneracy, suggesting that this center can be a promising alternative to T centers. 
    more » « less