CNR ExploRA

Articolo in rivista, 2022, ENG, 10.1063/5.0080348

Quantum technologies in diamond enabled by laser proces

A. N. Giakoumaki 1, G. Coccia 1, V. Bharadwaj 1, J. P. Hadden 2,3, A. J. Bennett 3,4, B. Sotillo 5, R. Yoshizaki 6 , P. Olivero 7, O. Jedrkiewicz 8, R. Ramponi 1, S. M. Pietralunga 1, M. Bollani 9, A. Bifone 10,11, P. E. Barclay 2, A. Kubanek 12,13 , S. M. Eaton 1

1) Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFN-CNR) and Dipartimento di Fisica-Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milano 20133, Italy 2) Institute for Quantum Science and Technology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada 3) School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA, United Kingdom 4) School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA, United Kingdom 5) Department of Materials Physics-Complutense University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040-Madrid, Spain 6) Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan 7) Department of Physics and "Nanostructured Interfaces and Surfaces" Inter-Departmental Centre, University of Torino, I-10125 Torino, Italy 8) Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR-IFN), Department of Science and High Technology, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, Via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como, Italy 9) Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, CNR, L-NESS, Via Anzani 42, 22100 Como, Italy 10) Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Sustainable Future Technologies, via Livorno 60, 10144 Torino, Italy 11) University of Torino, Molecular Biology Center, via Nizza 52, 10126 Torino, Italy 12) Institute for Quantum Optics, Ulm University, D-89081 Ulm, Germany 13) Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQst), Ulm University, D-89081 Ulm, Germany

Integrated photonic circuits promise to be foundational for applications in quantum information and sensing technologies, through their ability to confine and manipulate light. A key role in such technologies may be played by spin-active quantum emitters, which can be used to store quantum information or as sensitive probes of the local environment. A leading candidate is the negatively charged nitrogen vacancy (NV) diamond color center, whose ground spin state can be optically read out, exhibiting long (1 ms) coherence times at room temperature. These properties have driven research toward the integration of photonic circuits in the bulk of diamond with the development of techniques allowing fabrication of optical waveguides. In particular, femtosecond laser writing has emerged as a powerful technique, capable of writing light guiding structures with 3D configurations as well as creating NV complexes. In this Perspective, the physical mechanisms behind laser fabrication in diamond will be reviewed. The properties of waveguides, single- and ensemble-NV centers, will be analyzed, together with the possibility to combine such structures in integrated photonic devices, which can find direct application in quantum information and sensing.

Applied physics letters (Online)