Controlling single rare earth ion emission in an electro-optical nanocavity.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 36977681.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-37513-w and PMC identifier 10049985.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Rare earth emitters enable critical quantum resources including spin qubits, single photon sources, and quantum memories. Yet, probing of single ions remains challenging due to low emission rate of their intra-4f optical transitions. One feasible approach is through Purcell-enhanced emission in optical cavities. The ability to modulate cavity-ion coupling in real-time will further elevate the capacity of such systems. Here, we demonstrate direct control of single ion emission by embedding erbium dopants in an electro-optically active photonic crystal cavity patterned from thin-film lithium niobate. Purcell factor over 170 enables single ion detection, which is verified by second-order autocorrelation measurement. Dynamic control of emission rate is realized by leveraging electro-optic tuning of resonance frequency. Using this feature, storage, and retrieval of single ion excitation is further demonstrated, without perturbing the emission characteristics. These results promise new opportunities for controllable single-photon sources and efficient spin-photon interfaces.