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

• Main Authors: Yuya Yonezu, Kentaro Wakui, Kentaro Furusawa, Masahiro Takeoka, Kouichi Semba, Takao Aoki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group 2017-10-01
• Series: Scientific Reports
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13309-z

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.