Cavity-coupled telecom atomic source in silicon

Area of Science:

• Quantum Information Science
• Materials Science
• Optics and Photonics

Background:

• T centers in silicon offer promising telecom band optical transitions and long-lived spins for quantum networking.
• A key challenge is improving the weak and slow zero phonon line (ZPL) emission of T centers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the fluorescence decay rate and photon outcoupling efficiency of single T centers.
• To develop efficient T center spin-photon interfaces for quantum information processing and networking.

Main Methods:

• Integration of single T centers with a low-loss, small mode-volume silicon photonic crystal cavity.
• Characterization of fluorescence decay rate and ZPL photon outcoupling rate.
• Modeling of coupled system dynamics using the Lindblad master equation.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated an enhancement of the fluorescence decay rate by a factor of 6.89.
• Achieved an average ZPL photon outcoupling rate of 73.3 kHz under saturation, two orders of magnitude higher than previous reports.
• Successfully modeled the coupled system dynamics.

Conclusions:

• The integration with photonic crystal cavities significantly enhances T center emission.
• This work represents a substantial advancement towards efficient T center spin-photon interfaces.
• The findings pave the way for practical quantum networking and information processing applications.