Solid-state quantum optics at room temperature

Information is often transmitted in the form of light - for example, when we surf the Internet with the help of optical fibres. Light signals are also often used in quantum technology because they are very insensitive to decoherence disturbance by the environment. In order to not only transmit quantum information but to also be able to process and store it, a good interface between light and matter is essential. In novel quantum technologies one aims to reach the ultimate limit of an individual light particle interacting efficiently with a single quantum emitter. My research therefore aims to enhance the interaction between light and matter by employing nanophotonics on one hand, which strongly confines the light field and suitable quantum emitters on the other hand. I specifically focus on quantum emitters in the solid-state as they promise the highest flexibility concerning integration in different experimental set-ups and new devices and in terms of scalability. Solid-state emitter have tremendously advanced in the last few years and there is continued research in finding new species and understanding the origin of different emitters. Having a wide variety of different emitters is important to address different requirements for different applications in the framework of quantum networks and sensing. One problem with a solid-state environment at room temperature is that it usually suffers from vibrations-so-called phonons- which can be undesirable because they lead to a reduction of the light-matter interaction and may lead to loss of information. Therefore, such structures so far are usually cooled down to cryogenic temperatures, so that the vibrations decrease. In my research I now want to investigate bringing the field of solid-state quantum optics to a room temperature environment. For that purpose, I want to explore different quantum emitters in two-dimensional (2D) materials. Due to the special geometric structure of such materials, they can contain quantum emitters that couple less to the intrinsic vibrations of the host matrix. An important goal is to find the origin of these emitters and understand their electron-phonon coupling. Further, different techniques will be employed to stabilise the emitters and a high light-matter interaction will be achieved by using nanophotonics.