Publications

Laser-written waveguide-integrated coherent spins in diamond

Yanzhao Guo, John P. Hadden, Federico Gorrini, Giulio Coccia, Vibhav Bharadwaj, Vinaya Kumar Kavatamane, Mohammad Sahnawaz Alam, Roberta Ramponi, Paul E. Barclay, Andrea Chiappini, Maurizio Ferrari, Alexander Kubanek, Angelo Bifone, Shane M. Eaton, Anthony J. Bennett

APL Photonics 9, 076103 (2024) [open access preprint]

Selected as an Editor’s Pick

Determining strain components in a diamond waveguide from zero-field optically detected magnetic resonance spectra of negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy-center ensembles

M. Sahnawaz Alam, Federico Gorrini, Michał Gawełczyk, Daniel Wigger, Giulio Coccia, Yanzhao Guo, Sajedeh Shahbazi, Vibhav Bharadwaj, Alexander Kubanek, Roberta Ramponi, Paul E. Barclay, Anthony J. Bennett, John P. Hadden, Angelo Bifone, Shane M Eaton, Paweł Machnikowski

Phys. Rev. Applied 22, 024055 (2024) [open access preprint]

Selected as an Editor’s Selection

Selective single-and double-mode quantum-limited amplifier

Abdul Mohamed, Elham Zohari, Jarryd J. Pla, Paul E. Barclay, Shabir Barzanjeh

Phys. Rev. Applied 21, 064052 (2024) [open access preprint]

Einstein–de Haas torque as a discrete spectroscopic probe allows nanomechanical measurement of a magnetic resonance

K. R. Fast, J. E. Losby, G. Hajisalem, P. E. Barclay, and M. R. Freeman

Physical Review B 14, 226 (2024) [open access preprint]

Selected as an Editor’s Selection

Effect of the nanopillar diameter on diamond silicon vacancy center spin lifetime

Thomas Lutz, Tamiko Masuda, J. P. Hadden, I. Fescenko, Victor M. Acosta, Wolfgang Tittel, and Paul E. Barclay

Optics Materials Express 14, 226 (2024) [open access preprint]

Feedback enhanced phonon lasing of a microwave frequency resonator

Peyman Parsa, Prasoon Kumar Shandilya, David P. Lake, Matthew E. Mitchell, Paul E. Barclay

APL Photonics 9, 046109 (2024) [open access preprint]

Fiber-taper collected emission from NV centers in high-Q/V diamond microdisks

Tamiko Masuda, J.P.E. Hadden, David P. Lake, Matthew Mitchell, Sigurd Flågan, Paul E. Barclay

Optics Express 32, 8172 (2024) [open access preprint]

Kerr-optomechanical spectroscopy of multimode diamond resonators

Parisa Behjat, Peyman Parsa, Natalia C. Carvalho, Prasoon K. Shandilya, Paul E. Barclay

ACS Photonics (2023) [open access preprint]

Semiconductor-on-diamond cavities for spin optomechanics

Xinyuan Ma, Prasoon Shandilya, Paul E. Barclay

Optics Express 31, 22470 (2023) [open access preprint]

Selected as an Editor’s Pick

High-frequency torsional motion transduction using optomechanical coupled oscillators

Hamidreza Kaviani, Bishnupada Behera, Ghazal Hajisalem, Gustavo de Oliveira Luiz, David P. Lake, Paul E. Barclay

Optica 10, 35 (2023) [open access preprint]

Summary

Light allows precise tracking and measurement of the position of mechanical objects, and is used by many of the world’s most precise sensing systems. It can even be used to detect changes in position of nanoscale objects with a sensitivity approaching or surpassing that needed for observing “quantum noise” affecting its motion. This is achieved by trapping the light in a cavity that surrounds the mechanical object, and using this cavity to amplify the effect of the object’s motion on the light interacting with it.

Unfortunately, there are many mechanical systems that can not be easily inserted into cavities without spoiling their ability to trap light, the very property that leads to their sensitivity enhancements.

This paper shows how to work around this problem by connecting the troublesome mechanical resonator to a neighbouring resonator that is better suited for cavity integration. Vibrations of the resonator of interest tunnel into its neighbour, which is then measured using the full power of the cavity enhanced readout. This approach significantly broadens our ability to perform quantum limited optical measurements of nanomechanical sensors.

Nonlinear optics in gallium phosphide cavities: simultaneous second and third harmonic generation

Blaine McLaughlin, David P. Lake, Matthew Mitchell, and Paul. E. Barclay

Journal of the Optical Society of America B 39, 1853 (2022) [open access preprint]

Selected for the JOSA-B Emerging Researcher Prize

Summary

Changing the colour of light requires somehow modifying the energy of its photons. This isn’t easily done: when light interacts with matter, its momentum often changes, but its frequency is usually unaffected. An old trick to solving this problem is to create light fields so intense that they drive the atoms that constitute matter into distorted harmonic oscillations. These distorted oscillations emit light at new frequencies: different colours.

Using nanoscale devices that concentrate light to ultrasmall volumes, its possible to create these “harmonics” with using low optical power sources, eliminating the need for power lasers. Here demonstrate a device that creates green and yellow light from infrared light normally used in telecommunication networks.

These devices could be adapted for quantum optics experiments that convert one photon into a pair or triplet of photons, or vice versa.

Diamond integrated quantum nanophotonics: spins, photons and phonons

Prasoon K. Shandilya, Sigurd Flågan, Natalia C. Carvalho, Elham Zohari, Vinaya K. Kavatamane, Joseph E. Losby, and Paul E. Barclay

IEEE Journal of Lightwave Technology 40, 7538 (2022) [open access preprint]

Summary

Defects in diamond are excellent qubits: they can store quantum information for long lengths of time. They are also truly nanoscale in size. These properties make them one of the most promising systems for building quantum networks, and looking further into the future, realising quantum processing units with large numbers of qubits. A challenge to achieving these grand challenges is efficiently interfacing the qubits with light. Photonic devices offer a solution, but are not easy to create in diamond. This article reviews recent progress towards solving this important problem.

Optomechanical interface between telecom photons and spin quantum memory

Prasoon Shandilya*, David P. Lake*, Matthew Mitchell, Denis Sukachev, and Paul. E. Barclay

Nature Physics 17, 1420 (2021) [open access preprint]

News and Views recap of the paper by Lillian Childress and Jack Sankey from McGill

News story from UCalgary

Summary

This experiment shows how light at telecom wavelengths can be connected to spin qubits in diamond without using their optical transitions. Instead, light is converted to mechanical oscillations in the diamond crystal that couple to spin qubits by distorting the crystal lattice. By avoiding use of optical transitions, this interface can operate at a wavelength of choice, in this case the important 1500 nm wavelength band used in telecommunication networks. It also bypasses problems arising from drift or other decoherence of the fragile qubit optical transitions.

More than any paper from the group, this result exemplifies our efforts to “do it all”: conceive of and create highly novel devices (diamond microdisk resonators, in this case), master our ability to measure and control the properties of these devices (converting optical information to mechanical vibrations, and vice versa), and using them to enable new quantum technologies or reveal new quantum effects (controlling spin qubits with phonons).

Demonstration of hybrid high-Q hexagonal boron nitride microresonators

Anustup Das, Dong Jun Lee, Prasoon K. Shandilya, Sejeong Kim, Gumin Kang, David P. Lake, Bishnupada Behera, Denis Sukachev, Igor Aharonovich, Jung-Hyun Lee, Jaehyun Park, Paul E. Barclay

ACS Photonics 8, 3027 (2021) [open access preprint]

Summary

Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is a 2D material with tremendously powerful optical properties: defects in its crystal structure can behave like artificial atoms, emitting single photons and storing quantum information. Like its more establish counterpart graphene, it is usually created through exfoliation: the “scotch tape” method. Here we show that hBN created using a more scalable CVD method can be integrated with high quality photonic devices for the first time. This opens many doors to applications in hBN quantum photonics.

Single nanoflake hexagonal boron nitride harmonic generation with ultralow pump power

Ghazal Hajisalem , Mirali Seyed Shariatdoust, Rana Faryad Ali, Byron D. Gates, Paul E. Barclay, and Reuven Gordon

ACS Photonics 8, 1922 (2021)

Summary

Nonlinear optical effects allow nanomaterials – nanometer size particles or flakes – to double or triple the frequency of light. For example, they can convert infrared light to green or red coloured emission. However, this process is usually very inefficient, requiring intense input lasers to create weak frequency converted emission. Here we show, in collaboration with Gordon group at UVIC, that trapping particles in nanometer sized holes, where optical fields are greatly enhanced, allows routine generation of harmonic signals.

Tunable amplification and cooling of a diamond resonator with a microscope

Harishankar Jayakumar, Behzad Khanaliloo, David P. Lake, Paul E. Barclay

Physical Review Applied 16, 014063 (2021) [open access preprint]

Summary

Microscopes are routinely used to trap particles using the “optical tweezer” effect for which Arthur Ashkin was given the Nobel Prize. Here we adapt this technique to excite and damp mechanical vibrational motion of diamond nanomechanical resonators. These nanofabricated tuning forks have ultralow loss, and can be used for sensing small forces, and for controlling quantum states of diamond spin qubits using recently discovered spin-phonon coupling techniques.

This is one of only a few experiments in the world to look at diamond mechanical resonators at low temperature (5 Kelvin). Behzad and Hari both snagged nice jobs before the paper was finished but with some perseverance we managed to finally complete it.

Processing telecom wavelength light with an optically tunable memory

David P. Lake, Matthew Mitchell, Paul E. Barclay

Nature Communications 12, 663 (2021) [open access preprint]

Summary

Storing information encoded in light is a challenge – photons are hard to stop or slow down! Here they are instead reversibly converted into long lived vibrations of a diamond resonator. Not only can they be stored for long times in this resonator, but their properties can be tuned in situ. This is a powerful new platform for optical information processing.

Another clever experiment proposed entirely independently my Matt and David towards the end of their PhD training.

Two-color interferometry and switching through optomechanical dark mode excitation

David P. Lake, Matthew Mitchell, Barry C. Sanders, Paul E. Barclay

Nature Communications 11, 220 (2020)

By coupling two drastically different colours of light to the same mechanical resonator they can be coaxed into interacting. Here we use this to create an optical XOR gate.

After putting so much work into creating diamond optomechanical devices that can reversibly store light in their mechanical motion, David and Matt created a laundry list of clever experiments to try. This was one of them.

Harishankar Jayakumar*, Behzad Khanaliloo*, David P. Lake, Paul E. Barclay

Tuning of nanocavity optomechanical coupling using a near-field probe,

Hamireza Kavani, Chris Healey, Marcelo Wu, Paul E. Barclay

Applied Physics Letters 107 231107 (2015)

2008 - 2010 (at HP Labs)

2003 - 2007 (at Caltech)

Harishankar Jayakumar, Behzad Khanaliloo, David P. Lake, Paul E. Barclay