Scientific Reports (Oct 2017)

Efficient Single-Photon Coupling from a Nitrogen-Vacancy Center Embedded in a Diamond Nanowire Utilizing an Optical Nanofiber

  • Yuya Yonezu,
  • Kentaro Wakui,
  • Kentaro Furusawa,
  • Masahiro Takeoka,
  • Kouichi Semba,
  • Takao Aoki

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13309-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Abstract Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are promising solid-state quantum emitters that can be utilized for photonic quantum applications. Various diamond nanophotonic devices have been fabricated for efficient extraction of single photons emitted from NV centers to a single guided mode. However, for constructing scalable quantum networks, further efficient coupling of single photons to a guided mode of a single-mode fiber (SMF) is indispensable and a difficult challenge. Here, we propose a novel efficient hybrid system between an optical nanofiber and a cylindrical-structured diamond nanowire. The maximum coupling efficiency as high as 75% for the sum of both fiber ends is obtained by numerical simulations. The proposed hybrid system will provide a simple and efficient interface between solid-state quantum emitters and a SMF suitable for constructing scalable quantum networks.