Nanoparticle self-assembly a new approach to fabricating optical interconnects, single photon sources and more

A novel approach to fabricating optical waveguides and self-assembled structures at room temperature opens the way for integrating complex materials onto existing platforms. We demonstrate the fabrication of 7cm optical microwires, and integrate nanodiamonds in these waveguides. The nitrogen vacancy centres within the nanodiamonds are shown to exhibit single photon emission. The potential for expanding this technology to 2 and 3-D structures directly integrated onto silicon waveguides is proposed.