The photonic trumpet: An efficient, broadband interface between a solid-state quantum emitter and a Gaussian beam

TL;DR

The paper presents the photonic trumpet, a dielectric structure that achieves highly efficient, broadband coupling between quantum emitters and Gaussian beams, enabling ultra-bright single-photon sources with high external efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces the photonic trumpet design, combining broadband spontaneous emission control and adiabatic mode expansion, demonstrating its effectiveness for quantum optics applications.

Findings

Achieves external efficiency of 0.75 ± 0.1 in single-photon sources

Demonstrates broadband and robust coupling performance

Validates design through numerical simulations

Abstract

We introduce the photonic trumpet, a dielectric structure which ensures a nearly perfect coupling between an embedded quantum light source and a Gaussian free-space beam. A photonic trumpet exploits both the broadband spontaneous emission control provided by a single-mode photonic wire and the adiabatic expansion of this mode within a conical taper. Numerical simulations highlight the outstanding performance and robustness of this concept. As a first application in the field of quantum optics, we report the realisation of an ultra-bright single-photon source. The device, a GaAs photonic trumpet containing few InAs quantum dots, demonstrates a first-lens external efficiency of $0.75 \pm 0.1$.