Photon-photon and spin-spin Entanglement using Diamond-based impurity Elements: Silicon, Tin And Lead

Project Information

PEDESTAL

Grant agreement ID: 884745

DOI

10.3030/884745

EC signature date 4 May 2020

Start date 1 September 2020

End date 31 August 2026

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 2 478 734,00

EU contribution

€ 2 478 734,00

Coordinated by

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - PEDESTAL (Photon-photon and spin-spin Entanglement using Diamond-based impurity Elements: Silicon, Tin And Lead)

Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2025-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The project aims to investigate novel colour centres incorporated in nanophotonic devices as potential nodes and memory in quantum networks. Success of this project will ensure a feasible route to realising full-scale quantum networks based on integrated spin-photon quantum interfaces hosted by wide bandgap materials. This will help push the frontier of new technologies for communication and distributed computing.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

We have three achievements for the first reporting period. Firstly, a theoretical study: we identified an efficient way to create photonic cluster states with engineered connectivity using only a single quantum emitter coupled to proximal nuclear spins. This protocol will prove useful in the later stages of the project for multi-photon experiments. The second achievement is the also the most critical one: we were able to demonstrate all-optical quantum control of the spin of a tin-vacancy colour centre in diamond. This will be the workhorse technique in all operations for the rest of the project. The third achievement is the identification of spin-active colour centres in system material hexagonal boron nitride operational at room temperature. This opens great new opportunities to consider significant feasibility of operation if low temperatures are not necessary to being a quantum node. What is not yet verified is the rest of the properties of this colour centre and work will be carried out in parallel to investigate this.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Having already achieved full coherent spin control of the tin vacancy in diamond, we will push towards photonic indistinguishability next. Once that is achieved, the next step is to combine the two approaches to verify the spin-photon quantum entanglement quality. This step will shed light also to the particular protocol we will choose to implement for spin-spin entanglement.

Cover Art that supplemented the published quantum control paper (PRX)