Room temperature Purcell enhanced single erbium ions in silicon-carbide-on-insulator microring resonators

TL;DR

This work demonstrates room-temperature, Purcell-enhanced single-photon emission from erbium ions embedded in silicon carbide resonators, advancing quantum communication technology.

Contribution

It introduces a fully integrated, room-temperature erbium-based single-photon source with significant Purcell enhancement in silicon carbide resonators.

Findings

Achieved ~70× Purcell enhancement of erbium emission.

Recorded spectral diffusion of ~54 MHz.

Demonstrated Zeeman splitting under magnetic field.

Abstract

Spin-carrying single-photon emitters operating in the telecommunication C-band (1530-1565nm) are prime candidates for integrated spin-photon interfaces, offering seamless compatibility with existing fiber-optic infrastructure, an essential component for future quantum networks. In this context, erbium-dopants ($\text{Er}^{3+}$) are particularly compelling due to their exceptional emitter properties, including small spectral diffusion and long spin coherence times. However, their low C-band photon-emission rate and operation at cryogenic temperatures has limited the realization of this technology. In this work, we demonstrate fully integrated single-photon emission from an ion implanted $\text{Er}^{3+}$-embedded into a 4H-silicon-carbide-on-insulator (4H-SiCOI) microring resonator operating at room temperature. By optimizing the mode overlap between the resonator and the $\text{Er}^{3+}$-defect, we achieved a $\sim$70$\times$ Purcell enhancement and recorded small spectral diffusion of $\sim$54 MHz. We further characterize the $\text{Er}^{3+}$ single photon emission via photon correlation g$^{(2)}$-histograms and investigate its performance under varying magnetic-field, demonstrating Zeeman splitting on single emitters.