Collection of fluorescence from an ion using trap-integrated photonics

Felix W. Knollmann; Sabrina M. Corsetti; Ethan R. Clements; Reuel Swint; Aaron D. Leu; May E. Kim; Patrick T. Callahan; Dave Kharas; Thomas Mahony; Cheryl Sorace-Agaskar; Robert McConnell; Colin D. Bruzewicz; Isaac L. Chuang; Jelena Notaros; John Chiaverini

doi:10.1038/s41377-025-02138-9

Your Location：

Home >

Browse articles >

Collection of fluorescence from an ion using trap-integrated photonics

Original Articles

- Collection of fluorescence from an ion using trap-integrated photonics
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 3, Pages: 1017-1028(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
  2.Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lexington, MA, USA
  3.University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Author bio：
  
  Felix W. Knollmann (fwk@mit.edu)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-02138-9
  CLC：
- Received：27 June 2025，
  
  Revised：2025-10-28，
  
  Accepted：14 November 2025，
  
  Online First：29 January 2026，
  
  Published：31 March 2026
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Knollmann, F. W. et al. Collection of fluorescence from an ion using trap-integrated photonics. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1017-1028 (2026).
DOI：

Knollmann, F. W. et al. Collection of fluorescence from an ion using trap-integrated photonics. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1017-1028 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-02138-9.

摘要

Abstract

Spontaneously emitted photons are entangled with the electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom of the emitting atom

so interference and measurement of these photons can entangle separate matter-based quantum systems as a resource for quantum information processing. Since confinement in a single-mode facilitates the photon interference needed for generating entanglement

the dipole emission patterns relevant in spontaneous emission present a mode-matching challenge. Current demonstrations rely on bulk photon-collection and manipulation optics that suffer from large component size and system-to-system variability—factors that impede scaling to the large numbers of entangled pairs needed for quantum information processing. To address these limitations

we demonstrate a collection method that enables passive phase stability

straightforward photonic manipulation

and intrinsic reproducibility. Specifically

we engineer a waveguide-integrated grating to couple photons emitted from a trapped ion into a single optical mode within a microfabricated ion-trap chip. Using the integrated collection optic

we characterize the collection efficiency

image the ion

and detect the ion's quantum state. The integrated optic covers 2.18% of the solid angle and collects 1.97 ± 0.3% of the spontaneously emitted light incident on the grating for a total collection efficiency of 0.043% into a single-mode waveguide. This proof-of-principle demonstration lays the foundation for leveraging the inherent stability and reproducibility of integrated photonics to create

manipulate

and measure multipartite quantum states in arrays of quantum emitters.

关键词

Keywords

references

Bruzewicz, C. D., Chiaverini, J., McConnell, R. & Sage, J. M. Trapped-ion quantum computing: Progress and challeng es. Appl. Phys. Rev. 6 , 021314 (2019)..

Moehring, D. L. et al. Entanglement of single-atom quantum bits at a distance. Nature 449 , 68–71 (2007)..

Stephenson, L. J. et al. High-rate, high-fidelity entanglement of qubits across an elementary quantum network. Phys. Rev. Lett. 124 , 110501 (2020)..

O'Reilly, J. et al. Fast photon-mediated entanglement of continuously cooled trapped ions for quantum networking. Phys. Rev. Lett. 133 , 090802 (2024)..

Shadmany, D. et al. Cavity QED in a high NA resonator. Sci. Adv. 11 , eads8171 (2025)..

Krutyanskiy, V. et al. Entanglement of trapped-ion qubits separated by 230 meters. Phys. Rev. Lett. 130 , 050803 (2023)..

Ainley, E. M. et al. Multipartite entanglement for multi-node quantum networks Print at https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.00149 https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.00149 , 2408.00149 (2024).

Knollmann, F. W. et al. Integrated photonic structures for photon-mediated entanglement of trapped ions. Opt. Quantum 2 , 230–244 (2024)..

Seidelin, S. et al. Microfabricated surface-electrode ion trap for scalable quantum information processing. Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 , 253003 (2006)..

Wineland, D. J. et al. Experimental issues in coherent quantum-state manipulation of trapped atomicions. J. Res. Natl Inst. Stand. Technol. 103 , 259–328 (1998)..

Todaro, S. L. et al. State readout of a trapped ion qubit using a trap-integrated superconducting photon detector. Phys. Rev. Lett. 126 , 010501 (2021)..

Reens, D. et al. High-fidelity ion state detection using trap-integrated avalanche photodiodes. Phys. Rev. Lett. 129 , 100502 (2022)..

Setzer, W. J. et al. Fluorescence detection of a trapped ion with a monolithically integrated single-photon-counting avalanche diode. Appl. Phys. Lett. 119 , 154002 (2021)..

Smedley, O., Natarajan, V., Jaramillo, O., Rivy, H. M. & Mehta, K. K. Atomic fluorescence collection into planar photonic device s. Opt. Quantum 3 , 28–35 (2025)..

Apolín, J. & Nadlinger, D. P. Recoil-induced errors and their correction in photon-mediated entanglement between atom qubits Print at https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.16837 https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.16837 , 2503.16837 (2025).

Mehta, K. K. et al. Integrated optical addressing of an ion qubit. Nat. Nanotechnol. 11 , 1066–1070 (2016)..

Mehta, K. K. et al. Integrated optical multi-ion quantum logic. Nature 586 , 533–537 (2020)..

Niffenegger, R. J. et al. Integrated multi-wavelength control of an ion qubit. Nature 586 , 538–542 (2020)..

Kwon, J. et al. Multi-site integrated optical addressing of trapped ions. Nat. Commun. 15 , 3709 (2024)..

Clements, E. et al. Sub-doppler cooling of a trapped ion in a phase-stable polarization gradient Print at https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.06026 https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.06026 , 2411.06026 (2024).

Sorace-Agaskar, C. et al. Versatile silicon nitride and alumina integrated photonic platforms for the ultraviolet to short-wave infrared. IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. 25 , 8201515 (2019)..

Cheng, L. R., Mao, S., Li, Z., Han, Y. & Fu, H. Y. Grating couplers on silicon photonics: Design principles, emerging trends and practical issues. Micromachines 11 , 666 (2020)..

Beck, G. J., Home, J. P. & Mehta, K. K. Grating design methodology for tailored free-space beam-forming. J. Lightwave Technol. 42 , 4939–4951 (2024)..

Mehta, K. K. & Ram, R. J. Precise and diffraction-limited waveguide-to-free-space focusing gratings. Sci. Rep. 7 , Article number: 2019 (2017)..

Corsetti, S. et al. Integrated polarization-diverse grating emitters for trapped-ion quantum systems. In Proc. Frontiers in Optics + Laser Science. Tacoma, WA, USA (Optica Publishing Group, 2023)..

Notaros, J. et al. Ultra-efficient CMOS fiber-to-chip grating couplers. In Proc. Optical Fiber Communications Conference and Exhibition. Anaheim, CA, USA: IEEE , 1–3 (IEEE, 2016).

Zhao, Z. X. & Fan, S. H. Design principles of apodized grating couplers. J. Lightwave Technol. 38 , 4435–4446 (2020)..

Mekis, A. et al. A grating-coupler-enabled CMOS photonics platform. IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. 17 , 597–608 (2011)..

Myerson, A. H. et al. High-fidelity readout of trapped-ion qubits. Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 , 200502 (2008)..

Esmaeil Zadeh, I. et al. Single-photon detectors combining high efficiency, high detection rates, and ultra-high timing resolution. APL Photonics 2 , 111301 (2017)..

Simard, A. D., Belhadj, N., Painchaud, Y. & LaRochelle, S. Apodized silicon-on-insulator Bragg gratings. IEEE Photonics Technol. Lett. 24 , 1033–1035 (2012)..

Greiner, C. M. et al. Engineering the spectral response of waveguide Bragg gratings patterned by deep ultraviolet nanolithography. In Proc. SPIE 6896, Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XII , 68960G, (2008).

Luque-González, J. M. et al. Bricked subwaveleng th gratings: A tailorable on-chip metamaterial topology. Laser Photonics Rev. 15 , 2000478 (2021)..

Zhao, Z. "Robust 2d phase unwrapping algorithm." https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/68493-robust-2d-phase-unwrapping-algorithm https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/68493-robust-2d-phase-unwrapping-algorithm , MATLAB Central File Exchange (2018).

Views

Downloads

CSCD

Alert me when the article has been cited

Submit

Tools

Publicity Resources

No data

Related Author

No data

Related Institution

No data

⁰