Single photon emitter deterministically coupled to a topological corner state

Abstract

Incorporating topological physics into the realm of quantum photonics holds the promise of developing quantum light emitters with inherent topological robustness and immunity to backscattering. Nonetheless, the deterministic interaction of quantum emitters with topologically nontrivial resonances remains largely unexplored. Here we present a single photon emitter that utilizes a single semiconductor quantum dot, deterministically coupled to a second-order topological corner state in a photonic crystal cavity. By investigating the Purcell enhancement of both single photon count and emission rate within this topological cavity, we achieve an experimental Purcell factor of Fp = 3.7. Furthermore, we demonstrate the on-demand emission of polarized single photons, with a second-order autocorrelation function g(2)(0) as low as 0.024 ± 0.103. Our approach facilitates the customization of light-matter interactions in topologically nontrivial environments, thereby offering promising applications in the field of quantum photonics.