Chip-integrated metasurface-enabled single-photon skyrmion sources.

Abstract

Skyrmions, topologically stable field configurations, have recently emerged in classical optics as structured light for high-density data applications. Achieving controllable on-chip generation of single-photon skyrmions, while being highly desirable for quantum information technologies, remains challenging due to the nanoscale confinement of quantum emitters. Here we demonstrate a metasurface-integrated quantum emitter platform enabling room-temperature on-chip generation of single-photon skyrmions. Near-field coupling between quantum emitter and propitiously designed surface arrays of meta-atoms mediates spin-orbit interaction, transforming nanoscale-localized dipole emission into free-propagating topologically structured photonic modes. By exploiting this approach for structuring quantum emission from different color centers in nanodiamonds, we realize diverse skyrmionic states, including high-order anti-skyrmions and skyrmionium, and thereby demonstrate its universality across quantum emitters. Our work establishes a unified framework for on-chip structured quantum light sources, offering versatile control of high-dimensional topological states, such as skyrmions, and advancing scalable quantum photonic technologies.