SmartCut Er:LiNbO3 with high optical coherence enabling optical thickness control

TL;DR

This paper presents a photonic platform based on SmartCut erbium-doped lithium niobate with high optical coherence, enabling tunable light-ion interactions and optical thickness control for quantum information applications.

Contribution

The work introduces a stable, high-coherence erbium-doped lithium niobate platform with tunable optical properties and demonstrates multi-echo pulse trains in long waveguides, advancing quantum photonics.

Findings

Achieved optical coherence time of 180 μs in integrated waveguides.

Demonstrated tunable light-ion interactions and optical thickness control.

Observed multi-echo pulse trains in centimeter-long waveguides.

Abstract

Integrated photonics capable of incorporating rare earth ions with high optical coherence is desirable for realizing efficient quantum transducers, compact quantum memories, and hybrid quantum systems. Here we describe a photonic platform based on the SmartCut erbium-doped lithium niobate thin film, and explore its stable optical transitions at telecom wavelength in a dilution refrigerator. Optical coherence time of up to 180\,$\mu$s, rivaling the value of bulk crystals, is achieved in optical ridge waveguides and ring resonators. With this integrated platform, we demonstrate tunable light-ion interaction and flexible control of optical thickness by exploiting long waveguides, whose lengths are in principle variable. This unique ability to obtain high optical density using a low concentration ions further leads to the observation of multi-echo pulse trains in centimeter-long waveguides. Our results establish a promising photonic platform for quantum information processing with rare earth ions.