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Tunable Single-Photon Emitter Could Empower Quantum Info Processing

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Carbon nanotube quantum light emitters have been produced that are capable of single-photon emission at room temperature and at telecommunications wavelengths. These emitters could be used for optically based quantum information processing and information security as well as for sensing, metrology and imaging.

Critical to the success of the project was the ability to force the nanotube to emit light from a single point along the tube, specifically at a defect site. The key was to limit defect levels to one per tube so that only one photon could be emitted at a time. To achieve such a high degree of control, researchers used diazonium-based chemistry to bind an organic molecule to the nanotube’s surface to serve as the defect. The diazonium reaction enabled the controlled introduction of benzene-based defects with reduced sensitivity to natural fluctuations in the surrounding environment. The diazonium chemistry also permitted the researchers to access the inherent tunability of nanotube emission wavelengths.

Single photon emitter has potential use in quantum information processing, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers have produced what they believe to be the first known material capable of single-photon emission at room temperature and at telecommunications wavelengths, using chemically functionalized carbon nanotubes. These quantum light emitters could be important for optically based quantum information processing and information security, ultrasensitive sensing, metrology and imaging needs, and as photon sources for quantum optics studies. Courtesy of Los Alamos National Laboratory.


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In experiments, exciton localization at covalently introduced defect sites in single-walled carbon nanotubes provided a route to room-temperature single-photon emission with ultrahigh single-photon purity (99 percent) and enhanced emission stability approaching the shot-noise limit.

Researchers further demonstrated that the inherent optical tunability of single-walled carbon nanotubes, present in their structural diversity, facilitated the generation of room-temperature single-photon emission spanning the entire telecommunications band. Single-photon emission deep into the center of the telecom C band (1.55 µm) was achieved at the largest nanotube diameters used in the research (0.936 nm).

The wavelengths produced by most other approaches to quantum emission have been too short for telecommunications applications. By choosing a nanotube of appropriate diameter, the team was able to tune the single-photon emission to the appropriate telecom wavelength region.

“Ideally, a single-photon emitter will provide both room-temperature operation and emission at telecom wavelengths, but this has remained an elusive goal,” said Stephen Doorn, leader of the project at Los Alamos National Laboratory. “Up to now, materials that could act as single-photon emitters in these wavelengths had to be cooled to liquid helium temperatures, rendering them much less useful for ultimate applications or scientific purposes.”

The functionalized carbon nanotubes have significant prospects for further development, including advances in functionalization chemistry; integration into photonic, plasmonic and metamaterials structures for further control of quantum emission properties; and implementation into electrically driven devices and optical circuitry for diverse applications.

The research was published in Nature Photonics (doi:10.1038/nphoton.2017.119).

Published: August 2017
Glossary
metrology
Metrology is the science and practice of measurement. It encompasses the theoretical and practical aspects of measurement, including the development of measurement standards, techniques, and instruments, as well as the application of measurement principles in various fields. The primary objectives of metrology are to ensure accuracy, reliability, and consistency in measurements and to establish traceability to recognized standards. Metrology plays a crucial role in science, industry,...
nano
An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other structures and particles on the nanometer scale. Nano-optics (also referred to as nanophotonics), for example, is the study of how light and light-matter interactions behave on the nanometer scale. See nanophotonics.
quantum
The term quantum refers to the fundamental unit or discrete amount of a physical quantity involved in interactions at the atomic and subatomic scales. It originates from quantum theory, a branch of physics that emerged in the early 20th century to explain phenomena observed on very small scales, where classical physics fails to provide accurate explanations. In the context of quantum theory, several key concepts are associated with the term quantum: Quantum mechanics: This is the branch of...
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