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Spin–photon interface and spin-controlled photon switching in a nanobeam waveguide

Nature Nanotechnology volume 13, pages 398–403 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

The spin of an electron is a promising memory state and qubit. Connecting spin states that are spatially far apart will enable quantum nodes and quantum networks based on the electron spin. Towards this goal, an integrated spin–photon interface would be a major leap forward as it combines the memory capability of a single spin with the efficient transfer of information by photons. Here, we demonstrate such an efficient and optically programmable interface between the spin of an electron in a quantum dot and photons in a nanophotonic waveguide. The spin can be deterministically prepared in the ground state with a fidelity of up to 96%. Subsequently, the system is used to implement a single-spin photonic switch, in which the spin state of the electron directs the flow of photons through the waveguide. The spin–photon interface may enable on-chip photon–photon gates, single-photon transistors and the efficient generation of a photonic cluster state.

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Fig. 1: Resonant spectroscopy of a negatively charged quantum dot in a nanophotonic waveguide.
Fig. 2: Quantum dot spin preparation in a nanophotonic waveguide.
Fig. 3: Spin-controlled resonant transmission through the nanophotonic waveguide.
Fig. 4: Spin-controlled switching of the transmission.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge N. J. Taba and C. L. Dreeßen for help during the initial stages of the measurements. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the European Research Council (ERC Advanced Grant 'SCALE'), Innovation Fund Denmark (Quantum Innovation Center 'Qubiz') and the Danish Council for Independent Research. I.S., M.C.L. and R.J.W. acknowledge support from SNF (project 200020_156637) and NCCR QSIT. A.L. and A.D.W. gratefully acknowledge support of BMBF (Q.com-H 16KIS0109) and the DFG (TRR 160). This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 747866 (EPPIC) and no. 753067 (OPHOCS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Alisa Javadi, Dapeng Ding, Martin Hayhurst Appel, Sahand Mahmoodian, Camille Papon, Tommaso Pregnolato, Søren Stobbe, Leonardo Midolo, Tim Schröder & Peter Lodahl

  2. Department of Physics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Matthias Christian Löbl, Immo Söllner, Arne Ludwig & Richard John Warburton

  3. Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Festkörperphysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Rüdiger Schott & Andreas Dirk Wieck

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  1. Alisa Javadi
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Contributions

A.J., D.D., M.H.A. and T.S. carried out the optical experiment with input from I.S., R.J.W. and P.L. A.J., M.H.A. and S.M. performed the theory. M.C.L., I.S., A.L. and R.J.W. designed the heterostructure. R.S., A.L. and A.D.W. grew the wafer. C.P., T.P., S.S. and L.M. designed and fabricated the sample. A.J. and P.L. wrote the manuscript with input from all authors.

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Correspondence to Alisa Javadi or Peter Lodahl.

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Javadi, A., Ding, D., Appel, M.H. et al. Spin–photon interface and spin-controlled photon switching in a nanobeam waveguide. Nature Nanotech 13, 398–403 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-018-0091-5

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