Spin angular momentum–encoded single-photon emitters in a chiral nanoparticle–coupled WSe2 monolayer | Science Advances

Spin angular momentum (SAM)–encoded single-photon emitters, also known as circularly polarized single photons, are basic building blocks for the advancement of chiral quantum optics and cryptography. Despite substantial efforts such as coupling quantum emitters to grating-like optical metasurfaces and applying intense magnetic fields, it remains challenging to generate circularly polarized single photons from a subwavelength-scale nanostructure in the absence of a magnetic field. Here, we demonstrate single-photon emitters encoded with SAM in a strained WSe ₂ monolayer coupled with chiral plasmonic gold nanoparticles. Single-photon emissions were observed at the nanoparticle position, exhibiting photon antibunching behavior with a g ⁽²⁾ (0) value of ~0.3 and circular polarization properties with a slight preference for left-circular polarization. Specifically, the measured Stokes parameters confirmed strong circular polarization characteristics, in contrast to emitters coupled with achiral gold nanocubes. Therefore, this work provides potential insights to make SAM-encoded single-photon emitters and understand the interaction of plasmonic dipoles and single photons, facilitating the development of chiral quantum optics.