Frequency Tunable, Cavity-Enhanced Single Erbium Quantum Emitter in the Telecom Band

Abstract

Single quantum emitters embedded in solid-state hosts are an ideal platform for realizing quantum information processors and quantum network nodes. Among the currently investigated candidates, Er3+ ions are particularly appealing due to their 1.5 μm optical transition in the telecom band as well as their long spin coherence times. However, the long lifetimes of the excited state - generally in excess of 1 ms - along with the inhomogeneous broadening of the optical transition result in significant challenges. Photon emission rates are prohibitively small, and different emitters generally create photons with distinct spectra, thereby preventing multiphoton interference - a requirement for building large-scale, multinode quantum networks. Here we solve this challenge by demonstrating for the first time linear Stark tuning of the emission frequency of a single Er3+ ion. Our ions are embedded in a lithium niobate crystal and couple evanescently to a silicon nanophotonic crystal cavity that provides a strong increase of the measured decay rate. By applying an electric field along the crystal c axis, we achieve a Stark tuning greater than the ion's linewidth without changing the single-photon emission statistics of the ion. These results are a key step towards rare earth ion-based quantum networks.