Laser Writing of Scalable Single Color Centers in Silicon Carbide.

Single photon emitters in silicon carbide (SiC) are attracting attention as quantum photonic systems ( Awschalom et al. Nat. Photonics 2018 , 12 , 516 - 527 ; Atatüre et al. Nat. Rev. Mater. 2018 , 3 , 38 - 51 ). However, to achieve scalable devices, it is essential to generate single photon emitters at desired locations on demand. Here we report the controlled creation of single silicon vacancy (VSi) centers in 4H-SiC using laser writing without any postannealing process. Due to the aberration correction in the writing apparatus and the nonannealing process, we generate single VSi centers with yields up to 30%, located within about 80 nm of the desired position in the transverse plane. We also investigated the photophysics of the laser writing VSi centers and concluded that there are about 16 photons involved in the laser writing VSi center process. Our results represent a powerful tool in the fabrication of single VSi centers in SiC for quantum technologies and provide further insights into laser writing defects in dielectric materials.

[1]  N. T. Son,et al.  High-fidelity spin and optical control of single silicon-vacancy centres in silicon carbide , 2018, Nature Communications.

[2]  Y. Hayasaki,et al.  Photoluminescence in hexagonal silicon carbide by direct femtosecond laser writing. , 2018, Optics letters.

[3]  Xingji Li,et al.  Bright room temperature single photon source at telecom range in cubic silicon carbide , 2018, Nature Communications.

[4]  Ronald Hanson,et al.  Quantum technologies with optically interfaced solid-state spins , 2018, Nature Photonics.

[5]  T. Satoh,et al.  Creation of silicon vacancy in silicon carbide by proton beam writing toward quantum sensing applications , 2018, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics.

[6]  Takahiro Makino,et al.  Bright single photon sources in lateral silicon carbide light emitting diodes , 2018, Applied Physics Letters.

[7]  Dirk Englund,et al.  Material platforms for spin-based photonic quantum technologies , 2018, Nature Reviews Materials.

[8]  N. T. Son,et al.  Excitation properties of the divacancy in 4H -SiC , 2018, 1804.01167.

[9]  I. A. Khramtsov,et al.  Enhancing the brightness of electrically driven single-photon sources using color centers in silicon carbide , 2018 .

[10]  V. Krivobok,et al.  Nitrogen-vacancy defects in diamond produced by femtosecond laser nanoablation technique , 2017 .

[11]  Cristian Bonato,et al.  Quantum properties of dichroic silicon vacancies in silicon carbide , 2017, 1707.02715.

[12]  T. Ohshima,et al.  Three-Dimensional Proton Beam Writing of Optically Active Coherent Vacancy Spins in Silicon Carbide. , 2017, Nano letters.

[13]  S. Bauerdick,et al.  Scalable Fabrication of Single Silicon Vacancy Defect Arrays in Silicon Carbide Using Focused Ion Beam , 2017, 1703.04479.

[14]  E. Janzén,et al.  Scalable quantum photonics with single color centers in silicon carbide , 2016, 2017 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO).

[15]  David O. Bracher,et al.  Selective Purcell enhancement of two closely linked zero-phonon transitions of a silicon carbide color center , 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[16]  John G. Rarity,et al.  Laser writing of coherent colour centres in diamond , 2016, Nature Photonics.

[17]  S. Lebedev,et al.  Optical thermometry based on level anticrossing in silicon carbide , 2016, Scientific Reports.

[18]  Dirk Englund,et al.  Bright and photostable single-photon emitter in silicon carbide , 2016 .

[19]  D. Awschalom,et al.  Quantum decoherence dynamics of divacancy spins in silicon carbide , 2016, Nature Communications.

[20]  N. T. Son,et al.  Vector Magnetometry Using Silicon Vacancies in 4 H -SiC Under Ambient Conditions , 2016, 1606.01301.

[21]  S. Sciortino,et al.  Photoionization of monocrystalline CVD diamond irradiated with ultrashort intense laser pulse , 2016 .

[22]  G. Astakhov,et al.  All-optical dc nanotesla magnetometry using silicon vacancy fine structure in isotopically purified silicon carbide , 2015, 1511.04663.

[23]  J. Wrachtrup,et al.  Vector magnetometry based on S =3/2 electronic spins , 2015, 1505.06914.

[24]  J. Pflaum,et al.  Engineering near-infrared single-photon emitters with optically active spins in ultrapure silicon carbide , 2014, Nature Communications.

[25]  Nan Zhao,et al.  Coherent control of single spins in silicon carbide at room temperature. , 2014, Nature Materials.

[26]  Takeshi Ohshima,et al.  Isolated electron spins in silicon carbide with millisecond coherence times. , 2014, Nature materials.

[27]  J. Wrachtrup,et al.  Electron spin decoherence in silicon carbide nuclear spin bath , 2014, 1409.4646.

[28]  Igor Aharonovich,et al.  High quality SiC microdisk resonators fabricated from monolithic epilayer wafers , 2014 .

[29]  T. Ohshima,et al.  A silicon carbide room-temperature single-photon source. , 2013, Nature materials.

[30]  Nan Zhao,et al.  Sensing single remote nuclear spins. , 2012, Nature nanotechnology.

[31]  M. Markham,et al.  Ultralong spin coherence time in isotopically engineered diamond. , 2009, Nature materials.

[32]  E. Janzén,et al.  The Silicon Vacancy in SiC , 2009 .

[33]  Guillaume Petite,et al.  Dynamics of femtosecond laser interactions with dielectrics , 2004 .

[34]  J. Steeds,et al.  Transmission electron microscope radiation damage of 4H and 6H SiC studied by photoluminescence spectroscopy , 2002 .

[35]  Eric Mazur,et al.  Laser-induced breakdown and damage in bulk transparent materials induced by tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses , 2001 .

[36]  Bo Monemar,et al.  Electron effective masses in 4H SiC , 1995 .

[37]  S. C. Jones,et al.  Recent Progress On Laser-Induced Modifications And Intrinsic Bulk Damage Of Wide-Gap Optical Materials , 1989 .