Colloidal quantum dots as integrated single photon sources

Eich, Alexander; Spiekermann, Tobias; Gehring, Helge; Sommer, Lisa; Bankwitz, Julian; Pernice, Wolfram; Schuck, Carsten

Abstract

The integration of nano-scale quantum emitters with photonic integrated circuits holds great promise for realizing a scalable quantum technology platform. However, interfacing large numbers of independently controllable single emitter systems efficiently with nanophotonic structures for quantum technologies is a major challenge. In our work, we employ colloidal quantum dots as single photon emitter system that can be processed in solution at wafer-scale. We embed such quantum dots into tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) nanophotonic waveguides by utilizing lithographically patterned apertures in polymer thin-films that achieve high overlay accuracy with nanophotonic devices. We further employ broad-band polymer coupling structures produced in 3D direct laser writing 1 as fiber-chip interconnects and demonstrate anti-bunching behavior for the photoluminescence collected from waveguide-integrated quantum dots 2. Our work paves the way towards large-scale integration of quantum light sources into photonic integrated circuits.