Diamond Nanophotonics

The Joint Lab Diamond Nanophotonics (DNP) is researching novel concepts for guiding, capturing and manipulating light on the nano- and microscale. The aim is to achieve a controllable light-matter interaction in order to efficiently couple quantum memories in diamond to individual light particles (photons). These photons will then be efficiently coupled into optical fibers. To this end, the lab investigates and fabricates nanophotonic structures in diamond and combines them with other light-conducting materials that can already be reliably produced and processed today. In the long term, compact on-chip modules for quantum communication and computing are to be developed. Such photonic modules are a decisive step towards quantum information processing based on optically active solid-state materials. The basis for such information processing is formed by quantum networks derived from defect centers, which are scalably entangled at high rates. In a first step, the lab is working on demonstrating entanglement operations of diamond defect centers in integrated nanophotonic structures.

Quantum sensors for magnetometry are based on the interaction of magnetic fields with the spin states of color centers. Magnetometers of this kind can reach sensitivities on the order of ten pT sqrt(Hz)^-1 (Clevenson et al., 2015). In particular, we explore the miniaturization of these sensors while conserving their sensitivity.