Single photon source integrated on an hybrid ion exchange waveguide platform – SINPHONIE

This project, SINPHONIE, is situated at the interface between quantum optics and plasmonics, taking advantage of the field enhancement near noble-metal nanostructures. Quantum optics and its application in quantum information but also in quantum sensing and metrology can greatly benefit from the reduced size and the many degrees of freedom in designing plasmonic components. In particular, we will explore the capability of coupling efficiently single photon sources with integrated optical structures. In this project, the idea is to use plasmonic structures to enhance the emission properties of individual quantum emitters. Indeed, even though huge progresses have been made to harness the non-classical emission of single photon emitters, the maximum of collection remains at the most at 50%. We propose to tackle this issue to 1) improve the collection efficiency of single photons from a single emitter and 2) integrate the source of photons with conventional integrated optics in order to have single photons available directly in optical fibers.

The project will be implemented mainly using dielectric/metallic hybrid structures from glass integrated photonics coupled with a single photon source made of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) colour-centre in a nanodiamond (ND), i.e. a diamond nanocrystal of typically 20nm. Applications are expected in quantum technologies such as quantum cryptography, quantum sensing or in metrology. Single photon sources are nowadays routinely used in laboratories and thus ready for market applications but yet very few companies have emerged with an efficient commercial single photon source with known characteristics. We aim at tackling this issue and push forward our original design for efficiently coupling a single photon source with integrated optics.

The three project partners are the Laboratory for Nanotechnology and Optical Instrumentation (LNIO) of the University of Technology in Troyes (UTT), the Néel Institute in Grenoble and the company Teem Photonics in Meylan. They complement each other in their competences in quantum optics, waveguide optics, plasmonics, integrated optics, ion-exchange glass guides.
The three primary aspects of SINPHONIE are design and fabrication of hybrid plasmonic/dielectric structures, investigation of the quantum optical properties of emitters coupled with the hybrid structure and efficient light/matter interaction.