Proceedings Article | 3 October 2017
Costanza Toninelli, Pietro Lombardi, Anna Ovvyan, Sofia Pazzagli, Giacomo Mazzamuto, Günter Kewes, Oliver Neitzke, Nico Gruhler, Oliver Benson, Wolfram H. Pernice, Francesco Cataliotti
Proc. SPIE. 10358, Quantum Photonic Devices
KEYWORDS: Molecules, Single photon, Molecular photonics, Quantum efficiency, Wave propagation, Photonics, Light sources, Nonlinear optics, Optical components, Nanotechnology
Efficient quantum light sources and non-linear optical elements at the few photon level are the basic
ingredients for most applications in nano and quantum technologies. On the other hand, a scalable platform for quantum ICT typically requires reliable light matter interfaces and on-chip integration. In this work we demonstrate the potential of a novel hybrid technology which combines single organic molecules as quantum emitters and dielectric chips [1].
Dibenzoterrylene molecules in anthracene crystals (DBT:Ac) are particularly suitable quantum systems for this task, since they exhibit long-term photostability in thin samples [2], easy fabrication methods and life-time limited emission at cryogenic temperatures [3].
We demonstrate at room temperature the emission of single photons from DBT molecules into ridge waveguides with a branching ratio up to 40%. The overall single-photon source efficiency, including emission into the guided mode, propagation losses, and emission into a quasi-gaussian mode in free space, is estimated around 16%. These results are competitive with state-of-the-art single photon emission into propagating guided modes from solid state systems [4], while offering a novel platform with unprecedented versatility.
References
[1] P. Lombardi et al., Arxiv: 1701.00459v1 (2017).
[2] C. Toninelli et al., Opt. Express 18, 6577 (2010).
[3] A. A. L. Nicolet et al., ChemPhysChem 8, 1929 (2007).
[4] I. Zadeh et al., Nano Lett. 16, 2289 (2016); R. S. Daveau et al., Arxiv: 1610.08670v1 (2016).
[5] J. Hwang et. al., New J. Phys. 13, 085009 (2011); H.-W. Lee et al., Phys. Rev. A 63, 012305 (2000).
