Entanglement of single-photons and chiral phonons in atomically thin WSe$_2$

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates entanglement between single-photons emitted from quantum dots and chiral phonons in 2D WSe$_2$, revealing new avenues for phonon-driven quantum entanglement and non-reciprocal interactions in solid-state systems.

Contribution

It reports the first observation of entanglement between collective chiral phonons and single-photons in a 2D material, involving a novel scattering process.

Findings

Entanglement between quantum dot photons and chiral phonons was achieved.

The process involves a 'which-way' scattering mechanism with indistinguishable paths.

This work opens pathways for phonon-mediated quantum information applications.

Abstract

Quantum entanglement is a fundamental phenomenon which, on the one hand, reveals deep connections between quantum mechanics, gravity and the space-time; on the other hand, has practical applications as a key resource in quantum information processing. While it is routinely achieved in photon-atom ensembles, entanglement involving the solid-state or macroscopic objects remains challenging albeit promising for both fundamental physics and technological applications. Here, we report entanglement between collective, chiral vibrations in two-dimensional (2D) WSe$_2$ host --- chiral phonons (CPs) --- and single-photons emitted from quantum dots (QDs) present in it. CPs which carry angular momentum were recently observed in WSe$_2$ and are a distinguishing feature of the underlying honeycomb lattice. The entanglement results from a "which-way" scattering process, involving an optical excitation in a QD and doubly-degenerate CPs, which takes place via two indistinguishable paths. Our unveiling of entanglement involving a macroscopic, collective excitation together with strong interaction between CPs and QDs in 2D materials opens up ways for phonon-driven entanglement of QDs and engineering chiral or non-reciprocal interactions at the single-photon level.