Issue 65, 2018

Controlled size reduction of rare earth doped nanoparticles for optical quantum technologies

Abstract

Rare earth doped nanoparticles with sub-wavelength size can be coupled to optical micro- or nano-cavities to enable efficient single ion readout and control, a key requirement for quantum processors and high-fidelity single-ion quantum memories. However, producing small nanoparticles with good dispersion and exploitable optical coherence properties, another key aspect for these applications, is highly challenging by most synthesis and nano-fabrication methods. We report here on the wet chemical etching of Eu3+:Y2O3 nanoparticles and demonstrate that a controlled size reduction down to 150 nm, well below the wavelength of interest, 580 nm, can be achieved. The etching mechanism is found to proceed by reaction with grain boundaries and isolated grains, based on obtained particles size, morphology and polycrystalline structure. Furthermore, this method allows maintaining long optical coherence lifetimes (T2): the 12.5 μs and 9.3 μs values obtained for 430 nm initial particles and 150 nm etched particles respectively, revealing a broadening of only 10 kHz after etching. These values are the longest T2 values reported for any nanoparticles, opening the way to new rare-earth based nanoscale quantum technologies.

Graphical abstract: Controlled size reduction of rare earth doped nanoparticles for optical quantum technologies

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
30 Aug 2018
Accepted
19 Oct 2018
First published
05 Nov 2018
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2018,8, 37098-37104

Controlled size reduction of rare earth doped nanoparticles for optical quantum technologies

S. Liu, D. Serrano, A. Fossati, A. Tallaire, A. Ferrier and P. Goldner, RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 37098 DOI: 10.1039/C8RA07246A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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