Single artificial atoms in silicon emitting at telecom wavelengths

Characterization of the T center in $^{28}$Si

“…Silicon radiation damage centers have themselves been the subject of a number of recent studies [4][5][6][7] due to their bright luminescence, sub-microsecond luminescence lifetimes, near radiatively-limited optical linewidths in 28 Si, and wavelengths in the telecommunications bands. However, despite early reports that the G center in particular is connected to an optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) signal [8], the dominant zero phonon * s.simmons@sfu.ca line (ZPL) transitions of the G, as well as the C and W radiation damage centers, have each been shown to be singlet-to-singlet transitions with no ground state unpaired electron or hole spins in which to hold quantum information.…”

“…(b) High-resolution PL spectra of the T center TX0 ZPL in nat Si and in enriched28 Si. Weak features in the28 Si spectrum attributed to13 C isotope-shifted replicas for the T center's two inequivalent carbon atoms are visible at (c) 935.06093(7) meV, with an integrated area ratio of 1.1(1)% relative to the TX0 ZPL, and (d) a doublet at 935.14204(10) meV and 935.14240(6) meV, with a combined integrated ratio of 1.16(9)% relative to the TX0 ZPL.…”

A silicon-integrated telecom photon-spin interface

“…Erbium defects in silicon [9,10] offer weak dipole-forbidden telecom optical transitions and potentially long-lived spins [11], yet complex readily with other silicon defects into a wide selection of symmetry sites and complexes, only a small fraction of which are optically active [12]. The family of silicon defects known as radiation damage centers, including the well-studied G, C, and W centers [13][14][15][16][17], emit photons in or near the telecommunications bands, but do not possess an unpaired electron spin in their optical ground states [13].…”

Broad diversity of near-infrared single-photon emitters in silicon

“…While individual solid-state artificial atoms have been observed in several wide bandgap semiconductors such as diamond [13,14], silicon carbide [15,16] or hexagonal boron nitride [17], silicon is lagging behind [12]. The first optical detection of a single optically-active defect in silicon has only been reported recently [18] and reproduced in [19]. Besides this defect related to a carbon-complex called the G-center [20][21][22], we report here that silicon, despite its small bandgap, hosts a large variety of emitters that can be optically isolated at single scale.…”

“…The optical detection window was set to cover the near-infrared range from 1.1 µm to 1.55 µm. More details about the sample preparation and optical setup can be found in [18].…”