Erbium quantum memory platform with long optical coherence via back-end-of-line deposition on foundry-fabricated photonics

Realizing scalable quantum interconnects necessitates the integration of solid-state quantum memories with foundry photonics processes. While prior photonic integration efforts have relied upon specialized, laboratory-scale fabrication techniques, this work demonstrates the monolithic integration of a quantum memory platform with low-loss foundry photonic circuits via back-end-of-line deposition. We deposited thin films of titanium dioxide (${\mathrm{Ti}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$) doped with erbium ($\mathrm{Er}$) onto silicon nitride nanophotonic waveguides and studied $\mathrm{Er}$ optical coherence at subkelvin temperatures with photon echo techniques. We suppressed optical dephasing through ex-situ oxygen annealing and optimized measurement conditions, which yielded an optical coherence time of $64\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{\ensuremath{\mu}}\mathrm{s}$ (a 5-kHz homogeneous linewidth) and slow spectral diffusion of 27 kHz over 4 ms, results that are comparable to state-of-the-art $\mathrm{Er}$ nanophotonic devices. Combined with second-long electron spin lifetimes and demonstrated electrical control of $\mathrm{Er}$ emission, our findings establish $\mathrm{Er}$:${\mathrm{Ti}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ on foundry photonics as a manufacturable platform for ensemble and single-ion quantum memories.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical Review Applied
Published
2025-11-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/xj8y-b6sl
Primary Topic
Quantum optics and atomic interactions
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Erbium quantum memory platform with long optical coherence via back-end-of-line deposition on foundry-fabricated photonics

Ananthesh Sundaresh, Alan Dibos, Manish Kumar Singh, Sean E. Sullivan et al.
Physical Review Applied
Quantum optics and atomic interactions
article

Erbium quantum memory platform with long optical coherence via back-end-of-line deposition on foundry-fabricated photonics

Ananthesh Sundaresh, Alan Dibos, Manish Kumar Singh, Sean E. Sullivan, Vasileios Niaouris, Robert M. Pettit, Daniel Max Crowley, Lewis G. Carpenter, Skylar Deckoff–Jones, Shobhit Gupta
article en

Abstract

Realizing scalable quantum interconnects necessitates the integration of solid-state quantum memories with foundry photonics processes. While prior photonic integration efforts have relied upon specialized, laboratory-scale fabrication techniques, this work demonstrates the monolithic integration of a quantum memory platform with low-loss foundry photonic circuits via back-end-of-line deposition. We deposited thin films of titanium dioxide (${\mathrm{Ti}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$) doped with erbium ($\mathrm{Er}$) onto silicon nitride nanophotonic waveguides and studied $\mathrm{Er}$ optical coherence at subkelvin temperatures with photon echo techniques. We suppressed optical dephasing through ex-situ oxygen annealing and optimized measurement conditions, which yielded an optical coherence time of $64\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{\ensuremath{\mu}}\mathrm{s}$ (a 5-kHz homogeneous linewidth) and slow spectral diffusion of 27 kHz over 4 ms, results that are comparable to state-of-the-art $\mathrm{Er}$ nanophotonic devices. Combined with second-long electron spin lifetimes and demonstrated electrical control of $\mathrm{Er}$ emission, our findings establish $\mathrm{Er}$:${\mathrm{Ti}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ on foundry photonics as a manufacturable platform for ensemble and single-ion quantum memories.

Physical Review AppliedVol. 24(5)
Argonne National Laboratory (US), University of Illinois Chicago (US), AIM Photonics (United States) (US), MEMX (United States) (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 73%
Quantum optics and atomic interactions
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