NSF Award
2322891
Quantum technologies are poised to usher in new capabilities for secure data communication, advanced computing, and improved sensing. In these applications, photons play a crucial role in transferring quantum information. Thus, developing sources of quantum light, single and entangled photons, is essential for advancing these applications and generating societal impact through new technologies/capabilities. Yet many of the existing techniques for producing quantum light are limited by their random production of photons in time or poor rate of photon production, and, they largely operate in free space. This work seeks to realize a device that is able to rapidly assemble and improve the rate of single photon production on-chip. It will provide new information into the manipulation and enhancement of quantum optical emitters across multiple length scales, realize a prototype device for single photon production on-chip, and develop resources for training a new generation of quantum optical scientists through the creation of virtual laboratory exercises and simulations.<br/><br/>This project intends to realize ‘nanoscale emitter dock’ to simultaneously overcome two outstanding challenges for quasi-atom non-classical light sources - rapid and precise integration of an emitter alongside emission enhancement (trap and enhance) at room temperature. We accomplish this by engineering thermal and optical spatial distributions through non-resonant plasmonic structures paired with a standard low-loss photonic backbone (Si/SiN) for excitation and routing. Doing so enables a ‘multi-scale funnel’, synergistically combining electrothermoplasmonic (mm), negative thermophoretic (μm), and optical gradient forces (nm), to dock a single emitter with an electromagnetic hot-spot where strong enhancement to emission (Purcell effect) improves both the emission rate and stability. Through this we (A) deterministically route, capture, and ultimately print single quantum emitters (~20 nm) to a nanoscale hot-spot within seconds with sub-10 nm precision, (B) enhance the emission rate up to 1000× to achieve GHz-rates, (C) excite, capture, and guide light on-chip with dB/mm-scale loss.<br/><br/>The proposed effort will culminate in the demonstration of a scalable and versatile platform for integrated on-demand GHz-rate single photon sources at room temperature, that will accelerate the expansion of compact quantum key distribution systems and quantum simulators. Moreover, the synergistic integration of optical gradient force, attractive negative thermophoretic force, and long-range electrothermoplasmonic flow for emitter transport and placement at plasmonic cavity hotspots have not been explored, and would provide a powerful means for long-range, precise, and strong optical manipulation on-chip. This manipulation (and the overall proposed device structure) is also general, and not dependent upon the properties of any emitter, solving existing heterogeneous integration challenges. It can also be completed in parallel, allowing an entire wafer to be loaded simultaneously, opening a route to scale source construction.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
