Large-Scale Integration of Silicon Nitride Single Photon Emitters with Nanophotonic Elements

Recently bright and stable native single photon emitters (SPEs) were discovered in Silicon Nitride (SiN) [1]. These emitters have already been experimentally integrated with SiN waveguides, demonstrating their robustness to the stresses of fabrication and that successful monolithic integration with waveguides is possible [2]. However, the integration performed thus far has been done stochastically with respect to emitter position limiting overall performance and scalability. Recently, a high-yield (67%) and high spatial accuracy (~±30nm) lithographic process for creating these emitters was discovered. This process consists of rapid thermal annealing SiN/SiO₂ nanopillars. In this presentation, we report on our progress in merging this novel large-scale site-controlled process with conventional photonic fabrication processes. The goal of these efforts is to develop a multistage fabrication process is capable of producing photonic elements such as waveguide incouplers, free space out couplers, and other SiN photonic elements with precisely integrated SiN SPEs.

[1] A. Senichev et al, Sci. Adv. 7.50 (2021)

[2] A. Senichev et al, ACS Phot. 9.10 (2022): 3357-3365