Dual epitaxial telecom spin-photon interfaces with long-lived coherence
Optically active solid-state spin qubits thrive as an appealing technology for quantum interconnects and quantum networks, thanks to their atomic size, scalable synthesis, long-lived coherence, and ability to coherently interface with flying qubits. Trivalent erbium dopants, in particular, emerge as an attractive candidate due to their emission in the telecom C band and shielded 4f intra-shell spin and optical transitions. Nevertheless, prevailing top-down architectures for rare-earth qubits and devices have not yet achieved simultaneous long optical and spin coherence, which is necessary for efficient long-distance quantum networks. Here, we demonstrate dual Er<sup>3+</sup> telecom spin-photon interfaces in two distinct lattice symmetry sites within an epitaxial thin-film platform. By leveraging high matrix crystallinity, controlled proximity of dopants to surfaces, and exploiting host lattice symmetry, we simultaneously achieve kilohertz-level optical linewidth in a strongly symmetry-protected site, and erbium qubit spin coherence times exceeding 10 milliseconds. Additionally, we realize single-shot readout and microwave coherent control of erbium qubits in a fiber-integrated package, enabling rapid deployment and scalability. These advancements highlight the significant potential of high-quality rare-earth qubits and quantum memories assembled using a bottom-up method, paving the way for scalable development of quantum light-matter interfaces tailored for telecommunication quantum networks.
Authors
- Richard J. Warburton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3095-3596)
- Natasha Tomm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7508-2261)
- Tian Zhong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3884-7453)
- Yuxiang Pei
- Shuolong Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8200-9898)
- Shobhit Gupta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2151-7318)
- Shihan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6416-4168)
- Qiang Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5992-4871)
- Yizhong Huang
Institutions
- University of Basel (CH)
- University of Chicago (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-11-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64780-6
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Quantum optics and atomic interactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.25
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Defense
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- National Center of Competence in Research Quantum Science and Technology
- Office of Naval Research
- Division of Materials Research
- Army Research Office
- Argonne National Laboratory