Optically and electrically driven single-photon emission in silicon carbide
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2016
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Melbourne Authors
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School of Physics
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PhD thesis
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© 2016 Dr. Alexander Lohrmann
Abstract
Single-photon sources are considered a key component for future quantum technologies. Their applications in bio-imaging and quantum metrology aside, SPSs are the building block for quantum cryptography and linear optical quantum computing. To significantly enhance their practicality and reduce their cost, some single-photon sources can be driven electrically requiring nothing more than a simple battery. The focus of this work lies on the realisation of such an electrically driven single-photon source, a single-photon emitting diode, in silicon carbide, a wide-bandgap semiconductor that is recently emerging as a versatile platform for photonic and quantum technology.
Here, optically and electrically driven single-photon generation in the different polytypes of SiC is investigated. At first, optically active defects that exist at the interface between SiC and SiO2 were discovered and analysed, and a robust method to produce them on a single defect level, i.e. in a density low enough to individually address single defects, is presented. We found that these defects were ultra-bright single-photon emitters in the visible spectral region with fully polarised emission and short lifetimes. With these favourable properties, the defects were then integrated into PN junction diodes and were found to be highly suitable for electrically driven single-photon emission. For the first time, electrically driven single-photon emission under pulsed excitation at room temperature was demonstrated from a defect in a wide bandgap semiconductor. Finally, the fabrication of ultra-thin free standing membranes and the integration of single defects into these membranes, and also into cavity structures to enhance the emission properties, is presented. The origin of the single-photon emitters described in this work is related to the oxidation of the SiC surface, but the atomic structure remains unknown.
Given the ease of defect creation and integration into different device architectures, and their excellent properties, the single-photon emitters described in this work are viable candidates for next generation single-photon sources.
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single-photon sources, defects in semiconductors, silicon carbide, quantum optics, microdisk resonators, light-emitting diodes