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  • Review Article
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Solid-state single-photon emitters

Nature Photonics volume 10, pages 631–641 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Single-photon emitters play an important role in many leading quantum technologies. There is still no 'ideal' on-demand single-photon emitter, but a plethora of promising material systems have been developed, and several have transitioned from proof-of-concept to engineering efforts with steadily improving performance. Here, we review recent progress in the race towards true single-photon emitters required for a range of quantum information processing applications. We focus on solid-state systems including quantum dots, defects in solids, two-dimensional hosts and carbon nanotubes, as these are well positioned to benefit from recent breakthroughs in nanofabrication and materials growth techniques. We consider the main challenges and key advantages of each platform, with a focus on scalable on-chip integration and fabrication of identical sources on photonic circuits.

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Figure 1: Solid-state quantum systems emphasized in this Review.
Figure 2: Electrically driven single-photon emitters.
Figure 3: Coupling single emitters to optical resonators.
Figure 4: Applications of quantum emitters.
Figure 5: Future applications of solid-state single emitters.

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Acknowledgements

We thank C.-Y. Lu for discussions, and G. Fuchs, P. Barclay, D. Lake, R. Johne and A. Fiore for assistance with images. Financial support from the Australian Research Council (via DP140102721, IH150100028, DE130100592), FEI Company, the Asian Office of Aerospace Research and Development grant FA2386-15-1-4044, the Army Research Laboratory, the Center for Distributed Quantum Information program and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (FA9550-14-1-0052) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, 2007, New South Wales, Australia

    Igor Aharonovich & Milos Toth

  2. Institute for Biomedical Materials and Devices (IBMD), Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney, 2007, New South Wales, Australia

    Igor Aharonovich & Milos Toth

  3. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusetts, USA

    Dirk Englund

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  1. Igor Aharonovich
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Correspondence to Igor Aharonovich.

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Aharonovich, I., Englund, D. & Toth, M. Solid-state single-photon emitters. Nature Photon 10, 631–641 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2016.186

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