Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Large-scale integration of artificial atoms in hybrid photonic circuits

Nature volume 583, pages 226–231 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

A central challenge in developing quantum computers and long-range quantum networks is the distribution of entanglement across many individually controllable qubits1. Colour centres in diamond have emerged as leading solid-state ‘artificial atom’ qubits2,3 because they enable on-demand remote entanglement4, coherent control of over ten ancillae qubits with minute-long coherence times5 and memory-enhanced quantum communication6. A critical next step is to integrate large numbers of artificial atoms with photonic architectures to enable large-scale quantum information processing systems. So far, these efforts have been stymied by qubit inhomogeneities, low device yield and complex device requirements. Here we introduce a process for the high-yield heterogeneous integration of ‘quantum microchiplets’—diamond waveguide arrays containing highly coherent colour centres—on a photonic integrated circuit (PIC). We use this process to realize a 128-channel, defect-free array of germanium-vacancy and silicon-vacancy colour centres in an aluminium nitride PIC. Photoluminescence spectroscopy reveals long-term, stable and narrow average optical linewidths of 54 megahertz (146 megahertz) for germanium-vacancy (silicon-vacancy) emitters, close to the lifetime-limited linewidth of 32 megahertz (93 megahertz). We show that inhomogeneities of individual colour centre optical transitions can be compensated in situ by integrated tuning over 50 gigahertz without linewidth degradation. The ability to assemble large numbers of nearly indistinguishable and tunable artificial atoms into phase-stable PICs marks a key step towards multiplexed quantum repeaters7,8 and general-purpose quantum processors9,10,11,12.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Scalable integration of artificial atoms with photonics.
Fig. 2: Fabrication and integration of QMC with integrated photonics.
Fig. 3: Integrated quantum photonics with colour centres.
Fig. 4: Defect-free arrays of optically coherent and efficient waveguide-coupled emitters.
Fig. 5: Controlling the optical transitions of colour centres on a PIC.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. The data that support the findings of this study are also openly available in figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.11874291.

References

  1. Wehner, S., Elkouss, D. & Hanson, R. Quantum internet: a vision for the road ahead. Science 362, eaam9288 (2018).

    ADS  MathSciNet  PubMed  MATH  Google Scholar 

  2. Awschalom, D. D., Hanson, R., Wrachtrup, J. & Zhou, B. B. Quantum technologies with optically interfaced solid-state spins. Nat. Photon. 12, 516–527 (2018).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Atatüre, M., Englund, D., Vamivakas, N., Lee, S.-Y. & Wrachtrup, J. Material platforms for spin-based photonic quantum technologies. Nat. Rev. Mater. 3, 38–51 (2018).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Humphreys, P. C. et al. Deterministic delivery of remote entanglement on a quantum network. Nature 558, 268–273 (2018); correction 562, E2 (2018).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Bradley, C. E. et al. A ten-qubit solid-state spin register with quantum memory up to one minute. Phys. Rev. X 9, 031045 (2019).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Bhaskar, M. K. et al. Experimental demonstration of memory-enhanced quantum communication. Nature 580, 60–64 (2020).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Muralidharan, S. et al. Optimal architectures for long distance quantum communication. Sci. Rep. 6, 20463 (2016).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Lo Piparo, N., Munro, W. J. & Nemoto, K. Quantum multiplexing. Phys. Rev. A 99, 022337 (2019).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Nemoto, K. et al. Photonic architecture for scalable quantum information processing in diamond. Phys. Rev. X 4, 031022 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Monroe, C. et al. Large-scale modular quantum-computer architecture with atomic memory and photonic interconnects. Phys. Rev. A 89, 022317 (2014).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Nickerson, N. H., Fitzsimons, J. F. & Benjamin, S. C. Freely scalable quantum technologies using cells of 5-to-50 qubits with very lossy and noisy photonic links. Phys. Rev. X 4, 041041 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Choi, H., Pant, M., Guha, S. & Englund, D. Percolation-based architecture for cluster state creation using photon-mediated entanglement between atomic memories. npj Quantum Inf. 5, 104 (2019).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Kim, J.-H. et al. Hybrid integration of solid-state quantum emitters on a silicon photonic chip. Nano Lett. 17, 7394–7400 (2017).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Elshaari, A. W. et al. On-chip single photon filtering and multiplexing in hybrid quantum photonic circuits. Nat. Commun. 8, 379 (2017).

    ADS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Osada, A. et al. Strongly coupled single-quantum-dot–cavity system integrated on a CMOS-processed silicon photonic chip. Phys. Rev. Appl. 11, 024071 (2019).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Najafi, F. et al. On-chip detection of non-classical light by scalable integration of single-photon detectors. Nat. Commun. 6, 5873 (2015).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Mouradian, S. L. et al. Scalable integration of long-lived quantum memories into a photonic circuit. Phys. Rev. X 5, 031009 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Lu, T.-J. et al. Aluminum nitride integrated photonics platform for the ultraviolet to visible spectrum. Opt. Express 26, 11147–11160 (2018).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Xiong, C., Pernice, W. H. P. & Tang, H. X. Low-loss, silicon integrated, aluminum nitride photonic circuits and their use for electro-optic signal processing. Nano Lett. 12, 3562–3568 (2012).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Zhu, D. et al. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detector on aluminum nitride. In Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics FTu4C.1 (Optical Society of America, 2016).

  21. Sukachev, D. D. et al. Silicon-vacancy spin qubit in diamond: a quantum memory exceeding 10 ms with single-shot state readout. Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 223602 (2017).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Bhaskar, M. K. et al. Quantum nonlinear optics with a germanium-vacancy color center in a nanoscale diamond waveguide. Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 223603 (2017).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Becker, J. N. & Becher, C. Coherence properties and quantum control of silicon vacancy color centers in diamond. Phys. Status Solidi A 214, 1770170 (2017).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Siyushev, P. et al. Optical and microwave control of germanium-vacancy center spins in diamond. Phys. Rev. B 96, 081201(R) (2017).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Nguyen, C. T. et al. Quantum network nodes based on diamond qubits with an efficient nanophotonic interface. Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 183602 (2019).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Mouradian, S., Wan, N. H., Schröder, T. & Englund, D. Rectangular photonic crystal nanobeam cavities in bulk diamond. Appl. Phys. Lett. 111, 021103 (2017).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. Wan, N. H., Mouradian, S. & Englund, D. Two-dimensional photonic crystal slab nanocavities on bulk single-crystal diamond. Appl. Phys. Lett. 112, 141102 (2018).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. Lueng, C. M., Chan, H. L. W., Surya, C. & Choy, C. L. Piezoelectric coefficient of aluminum nitride and gallium nitride. J. Appl. Phys. 88, 5360–5363 (2000).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Guo, X., Zou, C.-L., Jung, H. & Tang, H. X. On-chip strong coupling and efficient frequency conversion between telecom and visible optical modes. Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 123902 (2016).

    ADS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Jung, H., Xiong, C., Fong, K. Y., Zhang, X. & Tang, H. X. Optical frequency comb generation from aluminum nitride microring resonator. Opt. Lett. 38, 2810–2813 (2013).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Bernien, H. et al. Heralded entanglement between solid-state qubits separated by three metres. Nature 497, 86–90 (2013).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Rogers, L. J. et al. Multiple intrinsically identical single-photon emitters in the solid state. Nat. Commun. 5, 4739 (2014).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Meesala, S. et al. Strain engineering of the silicon-vacancy center in diamond. Phys. Rev. B 97, 205444 (2018).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Maity, S. et al. Spectral alignment of single-photon emitters in diamond using strain gradient. Phys. Rev. Appl. 10, 024050 (2018).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Machielse, B. et al. Quantum interference of electromechanically stabilized emitters in nanophotonic devices. Phys. Rev. X 9, 031022 (2019).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Hong, C. K., Ou, Z. Y. & Mandel, L. Measurement of subpicosecond time intervals between two photons by interference. Phys. Rev. Lett. 59, 2044–2046 (1987).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Grange, T. et al. Reducing phonon-induced decoherence in solid-state single-photon sources with cavity quantum electrodynamics. Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 253602 (2017).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Mouradian, S. L. & Englund, D. A tunable waveguide-coupled cavity design for scalable interfaces to solid-state quantum emitters. APL Photon. 2, 046103 (2017).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  39. Bradac, C., Gao, W., Forneris, J., Trusheim, M. E. & Aharonovich, I. Quantum nanophotonics with group IV defects in diamond. Nat. Commun. 10, 5625 (2019); correction 11, 360 (2020).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Lodahl, P., Mahmoodian, S. & Stobbe, S. Interfacing single photons and single quantum dots with photonic nanostructures. Rev. Mod. Phys. 87, 347–400 (2015).

    ADS  MathSciNet  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Zhong, T. et al. Optically addressing single rare-earth ions in a nanophotonic cavity. Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 183603 (2018).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Dibos, A. M., Raha, M., Phenicie, C. M. & Thompson, J. D. Atomic source of single photons in the telecom band. Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 243601 (2018).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Bersin, E. et al. Individual control and readout of qubits in a sub-diffraction volume. npj Quantum Inf. 5, 38 (2019).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  44. Harris, N. C. et al. Linear programmable nanophotonic processors. Optica 5, 1623–1631 (2018).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Taballione, C. et al. 8×8 reconfigurable quantum photonic processor based on silicon nitride waveguides. Opt. Express 27, 26842–26857 (2019).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Seok, T. J., Quack, N., Han, S., Muller, R. S. & Wu, M. C. Large-scale broadband digital silicon photonic switches with vertical adiabatic couplers. Optica 3, 64–70 (2016).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Kim, D. et al. A CMOS-integrated quantum sensor based on nitrogen–vacancy centres. Nat. Electron. 2, 284–289 (2019).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Patra, B. et al. Cryo-CMOS circuits and systems for quantum computing applications. IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 53, 309–321 (2018).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  49. Atabaki, A. H. et al. Integrating photonics with silicon nanoelectronics for the next generation of systems on a chip. Nature 556, 349–354 (2018); 560, E4 (2018).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Sun, J., Timurdogan, E., Yaacobi, A., Hosseini, E. S. & Watts, M. R. Large-scale nanophotonic phased array. Nature 493, 195–199 (2013).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Schröder, T. et al. Scalable focused ion beam creation of nearly lifetime-limited single quantum emitters in diamond nanostructures. Nat. Commun. 8, 15376 (2017).

    ADS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  52. Ziegler, J. F., Ziegler, M. D. & Biersack, J. P. SRIM – the stopping and range of ions in matter (2010). Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B 268, 1818–1823 (2010).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Wan, N. H. et al. Efficient extraction of light from a nitrogen-vacancy center in a diamond parabolic reflector. Nano Lett. 18, 2787–2793 (2018).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Badolato, A. et al. Deterministic coupling of single quantum dots to single nanocavity modes. Science 308, 1158–1161 (2005).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Gazzano, O. et al. Bright solid-state sources of indistinguishable single photons. Nat. Commun. 4, 1425 (2013).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Gschrey, M. et al. In situ electron-beam lithography of deterministic single-quantum-dot mesa-structures using low-temperature cathodoluminescence spectroscopy. Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 251113 (2013).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  57. Sapienza, L., Davanço, M., Badolato, A. & Srinivasan, K. Nanoscale optical positioning of single quantum dots for bright and pure single-photon emission. Nat. Commun. 6, 7833 (2015).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  58. Thyrrestrup, H. et al. Quantum optics with near-lifetime-limited quantum-dot transitions in a nanophotonic waveguide. Nano Lett. 18, 1801–1806 (2018).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Chang, D. E., Sørensen, A. S., Demler, E. A. & Lukin, M. D. A single-photon transistor using nanoscale surface plasmons. Nat. Phys. 3, 807–812 (2007).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. Sohn, Y.-I. et al. Controlling the coherence of a diamond spin qubit through its strain environment. Nat. Commun. 9, 2012 (2018).

    ADS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  61. Maier, F., Riedel, M., Mantel, B., Ristein, J. & Ley, L. Origin of surface conductivity in diamond. Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3472–3475 (2000).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Sipahigil, A. et al. Indistinguishable photons from separated silicon-vacancy centers in diamond. Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 113602 (2014).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The focused ion beam implantation work was performed at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the US DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA-0003525. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the US DOE or the United States Government. This work made use of the Shared Experimental Facilities supported in part by the MRSEC Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) under award number DMR - 1419807. We thank D. Perry for providing the focused ion beam implantation at Sandia National Laboratories, and D. Zhu and C. Peng for assistance with wire bonding. N.H.W. acknowledges support from the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Center for Distributed Quantum Information (CDQI) programme W911NF-15-2-0067. T.-J. L. acknowledges support from the Department of Defense (DOD) National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) as well as the Air Force Research Laboratory RITA programme FA8750-16-2-0141. K.C.C. acknowledges funding support by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowships Program and ARL CDQI. M.P.W. acknowledges support from the NSF Center for Integrated Quantum Materials (CIQM), NSF grant number DMR-1231319. M.T. acknowledges support by an appointment to the Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through an interagency agreement between the US DOE and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. L.D.S acknowledges support from the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering administered through the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Technology Office. E.A.B. was supported by a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship and the NSF Center for Ultracold Atoms (PHY-1734011). I.B.H is supported by the DOE ‘Photonics at Thermodynamic Limits’ Energy Frontier Research Center under grant DE-SC0019140. S.L.M was supported by the NSF EFRI ACQUIRE programme EFMA-1641064. I.R.C. acknowledges funding support from the DOD NDSEG Fellowship, NSF award DMR-1747426, and the NSF EFRI ACQUIRE programme EFMA-1641064. D.E. acknowledges partial support from the MITRE Quantum Moonshot initiative.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Sara L. Mouradian

    Present address: University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

  2. These authors contributed equally: Noel H. Wan, Tsung-Ju Lu

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Noel H. Wan, Tsung-Ju Lu, Kevin C. Chen, Michael P. Walsh, Matthew E. Trusheim, Lorenzo De Santis, Eric A. Bersin, Isaac B. Harris, Sara L. Mouradian, Ian R. Christen & Dirk Englund

  2. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Edward S. Bielejec

Authors
  1. Noel H. Wan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tsung-Ju Lu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kevin C. Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michael P. Walsh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Matthew E. Trusheim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Lorenzo De Santis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Eric A. Bersin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Isaac B. Harris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Sara L. Mouradian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Ian R. Christen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Edward S. Bielejec
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Dirk Englund
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

N.H.W., T.-J.L. and D.E. conceived the experiments and wrote the manuscript. N.H.W. and T.-J.L. fabricated the devices, performed the experiments, and analysed the data, with fabrication assistance from K.C.C. and experimental assistance from M.P.W., M.E.T., L.D.S., E.A.B., I.B.H., S.L.M., and I.R.C. E.S.B. performed ion implantation. D.E. supervised the project. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Noel H. Wan, Tsung-Ju Lu or Dirk Englund.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Peer review information Nature thanks Wolfram Pernice, Jennifer Choy and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Extended data figures and tables

Extended Data Fig. 1 Flowchart for large-scale heterogeneous integration.

See main text and methods for process descriptions.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Histogram of number of emitter-coupled waveguides within a QMC.

The red coloured bar corresponds to the defect-free 8-channel QMCs that were suitable for integration. The orange coloured bars correspond to the QMCs that we did not use in this work.

Extended Data Fig. 3 FDTD simulation showing propagation of light from the diamond waveguide into the AlN waveguide.

a, For a 602-nm wavelength (corresponding to the GeV colour centre ZPL). b, For a 737-nm wavelength (corresponding to the SiV colour centre ZPL).

Extended Data Fig. 4 Saturation response of a single GeV centre.

a, Continuous-wave 532-nm laser excitation b, Pulsed laser excitation at 532 nm with a repetition rate of 26 MHz.

Extended Data Fig. 5 Scheme for strain-tuning emitters in a PIC platform.

a, SEM image of type I and type II waveguides considered in this experiment. b, Strain distribution along the waveguides and emitters considered in the main text (Fig. 5). Horizontal error bars indicate the lateral uncertainty in the position of emitters and vertical error bars indicate the ion implantation straggle.

Extended Data Fig. 6 Spectral shift of GeV centres in response to strain fields.

a–c, Strain response of emitter 1A (a), emitter 1B (b) and emitter 2 (c).

Extended Data Fig. 7 Spectral shifts for the brightest transitions.

Reproducible spectral shifts between 10 V and 26 V for the two brightest transitions C and D for emitter 2.

Extended Data Fig. 8 Optical properties during strain tuning.

Top: PLE linewidths as a function of voltage. Bottom: corresponding frequency shift, Δν, of the ZPL transition.

Extended Data Fig. 9 Stability of the ZPL transition frequency during strain tuning.

Each time slice corresponds to a single PLE linewidth measurement averaged over 2,000 experiments (about 3 min).

Extended Data Table 1 Saturated count rates from single GeV centres in a QMC
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wan, N.H., Lu, TJ., Chen, K.C. et al. Large-scale integration of artificial atoms in hybrid photonic circuits. Nature 583, 226–231 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2441-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2441-3

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing