Tapered fiber coupling of single photons emitted by a deterministically positioned single nitrogen vacancy center

A diamond nano-crystal hosting a single nitrogen vacancy (NV) center is optically selected with a confocal scanning microscope and positioned deterministically onto the subwavelength-diameter waist of a tapered optical fiber (TOF) with the help of an atomic force microscope. Based on this nano-manipulation technique, we experimentally demonstrate the evanescent coupling of single fluorescence photons emitted by a single NV-center to the guided mode of the TOF. By comparing photon count rates of the fiber-guided and the free-space modes and with the help of numerical finite-difference time domain simulations, we determine a lower and upper bound for the coupling efficiency of (9.5 ± 0.6)% and (10.4 ± 0.7)%, respectively. Our results are a promising starting point for future integration of single photon sources into photonic quantum networks and applications in quantum information science.

[1]  C. Becher,et al.  Low temperature investigations and surface treatments of colloidal narrowband fluorescent nanodiamonds , 2013, 1302.3188.

[2]  A. Mohtashami,et al.  Suitability of nanodiamond nitrogen–vacancy centers for spontaneous emission control experiments , 2012, 1212.5172.

[3]  V. Sandoghdar,et al.  Coherent spectroscopy in strongly confined optical fields , 2012 .

[4]  Hong-Quan Zhao,et al.  A nanodiamond-tapered fiber system with high single-mode coupling efficiency. , 2012, Optics express.

[5]  F. Kien,et al.  Efficient channeling of fluorescence photons from single quantum dots into guided modes of optical nanofiber. , 2012, Physical review letters.

[6]  M. Rothhardt,et al.  Nanofiber Fabry-Perot microresonator for nonlinear optics and cavity quantum electrodynamics. , 2012, Optics letters.

[7]  R. Yalla,et al.  Fluorescence photon measurements from single quantum dots on an optical nanofiber. , 2011, Optics express.

[8]  Hong-Quan Zhao,et al.  Highly efficient coupling of photons from nanoemitters into single-mode optical fibers. , 2011, Nano letters.

[9]  E. Hinds,et al.  Dye molecules as single-photon sources and large optical nonlinearities on a chip , 2011 .

[10]  A. Schell,et al.  A scanning probe-based pick-and-place procedure for assembly of integrated quantum optical hybrid devices. , 2011, The Review of scientific instruments.

[11]  C. Becher,et al.  Narrowband fluorescent nanodiamonds produced from chemical vapor deposition films , 2011, 1104.4076.

[12]  G. Zumofen,et al.  Controlling the phase of a light beam with a single molecule. , 2011, Physical review letters.

[13]  Marco Barbieri,et al.  Single-photon device requirements for operating linear optics quantum computing outside the post-selection basis , 2010, 1012.1868.

[14]  J. Rarity,et al.  Nanofabricated solid immersion lenses registered to single emitters in diamond , 2010, 1012.1135.

[15]  A. Rauschenbeutel,et al.  Design and optimization of broadband tapered optical fibers with a nanofiber waist. , 2010, Optics express.

[16]  I. Gerhardt,et al.  Monolithic diamond optics for single photon detection. , 2010, Applied physics letters.

[17]  J. Rarity,et al.  Strongly enhanced photon collection from diamond defect centers under microfabricated integrated solid immersion lenses , 2010, 1006.2093.

[18]  D. Browne,et al.  Physical model for the generation of ideal resources in multipartite quantum networking , 2010, 1003.2171.

[19]  Steven G. Johnson,et al.  Meep: A flexible free-software package for electromagnetic simulations by the FDTD method , 2010, Comput. Phys. Commun..

[20]  S. Dawkins,et al.  Optical interface created by laser-cooled atoms trapped in the evanescent field surrounding an optical nanofiber. , 2009, Physical review letters.

[21]  P. Hemmer,et al.  A diamond nanowire single-photon source. , 2009, Nature nanotechnology.

[22]  A. Rauschenbeutel,et al.  Ultra-sensitive fluorescence spectroscopy of isolated surface-adsorbed molecules using an optical nanofiber. , 2009, Optics express.

[23]  K. Hakuta,et al.  Cavity-enhanced channeling of emission from an atom into a nanofiber , 2009, 0910.5276.

[24]  I. Bulu,et al.  Broadband waveguide QED system on a chip , 2009 .

[25]  V. Scarani,et al.  Phase shift of a weak coherent beam induced by a single atom. , 2009, Physical review letters.

[26]  C. Santori,et al.  Coupling of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond to a GaP waveguide , 2008, 0811.0328.

[27]  C. Kurtsiefer,et al.  Strong interaction between light and a single trapped atom without a cavity , 2008, 2008 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and 2008 Conference on Quantum Electronics and Laser Science.

[28]  Fam Le Kien,et al.  Optical nanofiber as an efficient tool for manipulating and probing atomic Fluorescence. , 2007, Optics express.

[29]  G. Milburn,et al.  Linear optical quantum computing with photonic qubits , 2005, quant-ph/0512071.

[30]  H. Weinfurter,et al.  Single photon emission from SiV centres in diamond produced by ion implantation , 2006 .

[31]  Kohzo Hakuta,et al.  Spontaneous emission of a cesium atom near a nanofiber: Efficient coupling of light to guided modes , 2005 .

[32]  Kae Nemoto,et al.  Weak nonlinearities: a new route to optical quantum computation , 2005, quant-ph/0507084.

[33]  V. I. Balykin,et al.  Field intensity distributions and polarization orientations in a vacuum-clad subwavelength-diameter optical fiber , 2004 .

[34]  V. Klimov.  Spontaneous emission rate of an excited atom placed near a nanofiber (17 pages) , 2004 .

[35]  P. Domokos,et al.  Quantum description of light-pulse scattering on a single atom in waveguides , 2002, quant-ph/0202005.

[36]  E. Knill,et al.  A scheme for efficient quantum computation with linear optics , 2001, Nature.

[37]  Mayer,et al.  Stable solid-state source of single photons , 2000, Physical review letters.