Discovery of T center-like quantum defects in silicon

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Xiong, Yihuang, Zheng, Jiongzhi, McBride, Shay, Zhang, Xueyue, Griffin, Sinéad M., Hautier, Geoffroy
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Xiong, Yihuang
Zheng, Jiongzhi
McBride, Shay
Zhang, Xueyue
Griffin, Sinéad M.
Hautier, Geoffroy
author_facet Xiong, Yihuang
Zheng, Jiongzhi
McBride, Shay
Zhang, Xueyue
Griffin, Sinéad M.
Hautier, Geoffroy
contents Quantum technologies would benefit from the development of high performance quantum defects acting as single-photon emitters or spin-photon interface. Finding such a quantum defect in silicon is especially appealing in view of its favorable spin bath and high processability. While some color centers in silicon have been emerging in quantum applications, there is still a need to search and develop new high performance quantum emitters. Searching a high-throughput computational database of more than 22,000 charged complex defects in silicon, we identify a series of defects formed by a group III element combined with carbon ((A-C)$\rm _{Si}$ with A=B,Al,Ga,In,Tl) and substituting on a silicon site. These defects are analogous structurally, electronically and chemically to the well-known T center in silicon ((C-C-H)$\rm_{Si}$) and their optical properties are mainly driven by an unpaired electron in a carbon $p$ orbital. They all emit in the telecom and some of these color centers show improved properties compared to the T center in terms of computed radiative lifetime or emission efficiency. We also show that the synthesis of hydrogenated T center-like defects followed by a dehydrogenation annealing step could be an efficient way of synthesis. All the T center-like defects show a higher symmetry than the T center making them easier to align with magnetic fields. Our work motivates further studies on the synthesis and control of this new family of quantum defects, and also demonstrates the use of high-throughput computational screening to detect new complex quantum defects.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_05165
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Discovery of T center-like quantum defects in silicon
Xiong, Yihuang
Zheng, Jiongzhi
McBride, Shay
Zhang, Xueyue
Griffin, Sinéad M.
Hautier, Geoffroy
Materials Science
Quantum Physics
Quantum technologies would benefit from the development of high performance quantum defects acting as single-photon emitters or spin-photon interface. Finding such a quantum defect in silicon is especially appealing in view of its favorable spin bath and high processability. While some color centers in silicon have been emerging in quantum applications, there is still a need to search and develop new high performance quantum emitters. Searching a high-throughput computational database of more than 22,000 charged complex defects in silicon, we identify a series of defects formed by a group III element combined with carbon ((A-C)$\rm _{Si}$ with A=B,Al,Ga,In,Tl) and substituting on a silicon site. These defects are analogous structurally, electronically and chemically to the well-known T center in silicon ((C-C-H)$\rm_{Si}$) and their optical properties are mainly driven by an unpaired electron in a carbon $p$ orbital. They all emit in the telecom and some of these color centers show improved properties compared to the T center in terms of computed radiative lifetime or emission efficiency. We also show that the synthesis of hydrogenated T center-like defects followed by a dehydrogenation annealing step could be an efficient way of synthesis. All the T center-like defects show a higher symmetry than the T center making them easier to align with magnetic fields. Our work motivates further studies on the synthesis and control of this new family of quantum defects, and also demonstrates the use of high-throughput computational screening to detect new complex quantum defects.
title Discovery of T center-like quantum defects in silicon
topic Materials Science
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.05165