Optical device having efficient light-matter interface for quantum simulations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9798083-B2
Application number	US-201515325508-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 7, 2015
Priority date	Jul 14, 2014
Publication date	Oct 24, 2017
Grant date	Oct 24, 2017

Abstract

An optical device comprising a single-photon device, which is coupled to a planar waveguide is described. The planar waveguide comprises a nanostructured section, which includes a longitudinal extending guiding region with a first side and a second side, a first nanostructure arranged on the first side of the guiding region, and a second nanostructure arranged on the second side of the guiding region. The nanostructured section comprises a slow-mode section, in which the single-photon device is positioned or embedded, and in which the first nanostructure and second nanostructure suppress spontaneous emission into other modes. The planar waveguide further comprises a fiber coupler for coupling light out of the planar waveguide and into an optical fiber, the fiber coupler preferably being adapted to match a field profile of an optical fiber.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An optical device comprising:
a single-photon device, which is coupled to a planar waveguide, wherein the planar waveguide comprises a nanostructured section, which includes:
a longitudinal extending guiding region with a first side and a second side,
a first nanostructure arranged on the first side of the guiding region, and
a second nanostructure arranged on the second side of the guiding region,

wherein the nanostructured section comprises a slow-mode section, in which the single-photon device is positioned or embedded, and in which the first nanostructure and second nanostructure suppress spontaneous emission into other modes,
wherein the planar waveguide further comprises: a fibre coupler for coupling light out of the planar waveguide and into an optical fibre.

2. An optical device according to claim 1 , wherein the planar waveguide further comprises a fast-mode section arranged after the slow-mode section.

3. An optical device according to claim 2 , wherein the fast-mode section is directly coupled to the slow-mode section and wherein the fast-mode section and slow-mode section are impedance matched.

4. An optical device according to claim 1 , wherein the planar waveguide further comprises a slow-to-fast transition section arranged after the slow-mode section providing a transition from slow-mode light to fast-mode light.

5. An optical device according to claim 1 , wherein the fiber coupler comprises and out-of-plane grating-to-fibre coupler having a second width and being adapted to coupling light out of the device and match the field profile of an optical fiber.

6. An optical device according to claim 5 , wherein a pre-grating transition section having a gradual transition from the first width to the second width is arranged between the ridge waveguide and the grating-to-fibre coupler.

7. An optical device according to claim 1 , wherein the planar waveguide includes a ridge waveguide having a first width and arranged so that the fast-mode light from the nano-structured section is coupled into the ridge waveguide.

8. An optical device according to claim 1 , wherein the planar waveguide further comprises a fast-mode section arranged after the slow-mode section, a ridge waveguide arranged after the fast-mode section, and the fibre coupler is arranged after the ridge waveguide.

9. An optical device according to claim 8 , wherein the fiber coupler comprises an out-of-plane grating-to-fiber coupler, and wherein a pre-grating transition section having a gradual transition from a first width of the ridge waveguide to a second width of the out-of-plane grating-to-fiber coupler is arranged between the ridge waveguide and the out-of-plane grating-to-fiber coupler.

10. An optical device according to claim 1 , wherein the optical device is made of an III-V semiconductor material.

11. An optical device according to claim 1 , wherein the optical device is provided on a single substrate.

12. An optical device according to claim 1 , wherein the nanostructured section is a photonic crystal waveguide.

13. An optical device according to claim 1 , wherein the nanostructured section comprises a termination at a proximal longitudinal end of the slow-mode section.

14. An optical device according to claim 1 , wherein the first nanostructure and the second nanostructure in the fast-mode section is stretched in the longitudinal direction so that a mutual longitudinal distance between holes of the nanostructures in the fast-mode section is at least 2% larger than the mutual longitudinal distance in the slow-mode section.

15. An optical device according to claim 1 , wherein the single-photon device is a single-photon emitter.

16. An optical device according to claim 1 , wherein the single-photon device is a quantum dot, a nanowire or a super-conducting wire.

17. An optical device according to claim 1 , wherein the out-of-plane grating-to-fiber coupler comprises surface gratings.

18. An optical device according to claim 1 , further comprising an optical fiber having a first end arranged so as to be able to couple in light from the out-of-[plane grating-to-fibre coupler, alternatively couple light emitted from the first end into the out-of-plane grating-to-fiber coupler.

19. An optical fiber according to claim 18 , wherein the optical fiber is a single-mode fiber.

20. An optical device according to claim 18 , wherein the optical device is further coupled to a demultiplexing setup using a pockels cell.

21. An optical device according to claim 20 , wherein the pockels cell is arranged in a loop.

22. An optical device according to claim 20 , wherein parallel trains of single photons are demultiplexed into individual optical fibers.

Assignees

• Univ Copenhagen

Inventors

• Mahmoodian Sahand
• Söllner Immo Nathanael
• Stobbe Søren
• Lodahl Peter

Classifications

• G02B6/1228

  Tapered waveguides, e.g. integrated spot-size transformers (for coupling with fibres G02B6/305) · CPC title

• G02B2006/12164

  Multiplexing; Demultiplexing · CPC title

• G02B6/124

  Geodesic lenses or integrated gratings · CPC title

• Y10S977/774

  Exhibiting three-dimensional carrier confinement, e.g. quantum dots · CPC title

• G02B6/1225 Primary

  comprising photonic band-gap structures or photonic lattices · CPC title