Ultracompact single-photon sources of linearly polarized vortex beams

Ultracompact chip-integrated single-photon sources of collimated beams with polarization-encoded states are crucial for integrated quantum technologies. However, most of currently available single-photon sources rely on external bulky optical components to shape the polarization and phase front of emitted photon beams. Efficient integration of quantum emitters with beam shaping and polarization encoding functionalities remains so far elusive. Here, ultracompact single-photon sources of linearly polarized vortex beams based on chip-integrated quantum emitter-coupled metasurfaces are presented, which are meticulously designed by fully exploiting the potential of nanobrick-arrayed metasurfaces. The authors first demonstrate on-chip single-photon generation of high-purity linearly polarized vortex beams with prescribed topological charges of 0, − 1, and +1. The multiplexing of single-photon emission channels with orthogonal linear polarizations carrying different topological charges are further realized and their entanglement is demonstarated. The work illustrates the potential and feasibility of ultracompact quantum emitter-coupled metasurfaces as a new quantum optics platform for realizing chip-integrated high-dimensional single-photon sources.