Topologically-protected single-photon sources with topological slow light photonic crystal waveguides

Abstract: Slow light waveguides are advantageous for implementing high-performance single-photon sources required for scalable operation of integrated quantum photonic circuits (IQPCs), though such waveguides are known to suffer from propagation loss due to backscattering. A way to overcome the drawback is to use topological photonics, in which robust waveguiding in topologically-protected optical modes has recently been demonstrated. Here, we report single-photon sources using single quantum dots (QDs) embedded in topological slow light waveguides based on valley photonic crystals. We observe Purcell-enhanced single-photon emission from a QD into a topological slow light mode with a group index over 20 and its robust propagation even under the presence of sharp bends. These results pave the way for the realization of robust and high-performance single-photon sources indispensable for IQPCs.