The ability to engineer controllable atom-photon interactions is at the heart of quantum optics and quantum information processing. In this talk, I will introduce a nanophotonic platform for engineering strong atom-photon interactions on a semiconductor chip. I will first discuss an experimental demonstration of a spin-photon quantum transistor [1], a fundamental building block for quantum repeaters and quantum networks. The device allows a single spin trapped inside a semiconductor quantum dot to switch a single photon, and vice versa, a single photon to flip the spin. I will discuss how the spin-photon quantum transistor realizes optical nonlinearity at the fundamental single quantum level, where a single photon could switch the transmission of multiple subsequent photons [2]. I will next discuss the promise of realizing photon-mediated many-body interactions in an alternative solid-state platform based on a more homogeneous quantum emitter, silicon-vacancy (SiV) color centers in diamond. I will introduce our efforts in creating strong light-matter interactions through photonic crystal cavities fabricated in diamond [3], and the use of cavity-stimulated Raman emission to overcome the remaining frequency inhomogeneity of the emitters [4]. Finally, I will outline the exciting prospects of applying inverse designed nanophotonic structures into quantum optics, and their potential applications in engineering photon-mediated atom-atom interactions.

References

[1] S. Sun et al., Nature Nanotech. 11, 539–544 (2016).

[2] S. Sun et al., Science 361, 57-60 (2018).

[3] J. L. Zhang* and S. Sun* et al., Nano Lett. 18, 1360–1365 (2018).

[4] S. Sun et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 083601 (2018)