Quantum technology with paramagnetic point defects in silicon carbide

Cristian Bonato, Christiaan Bekker, Pasquale Cilibrizzi, Charalampos Nikolatos
School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

Single spins associated with point defects in solids are attracting increasing attention for the implementation of quantum technologies, from nanoscale magnetic sensing to quantum repeaters for secure quantum communication. While the most successful systemin this fieldis undoubtedly the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre in diamond, researchers are actively searching for similar systems in materials with better technological properties (cost, doping, CMOS-compatible fabrication) than diamond.Silicon carbide(SiC) is a material uniquely combining excellent photonics, electronics and spintronics properties[1]: a wide transparency range, strong 2ndand 3rdorder non-linearities, established growth and p-/n-type doping. SiC features a number of spin-active point defects that have been recently investigated as quantum emitters, both intrinsic (Si vacancy, divacancy, …) and associated to impurities (NV centre, molybdenum, vanadium, etc). Electron spin coherence times appear to be at least comparable to (and possibly longer than) the NV centre in diamond.Here we will discuss our progress at developing quantum opto-electronic devices in SiC for quantum networking applications. We will illustrate the development of wafer-scale photonic structures to boost photon collection efficiency and the fabrication of p-i-n diodes to control the charge state of the defects and their emission wavelengths. We will further discuss the creation of quantum emitters (silicon vacancies, divacancies and vanadium impurities), the characterisation of their optical and spin properties, and their integration in the devices.References[1] S. Castelletto et al, “Silicon Carbide Photonics Bridging QuantumTechnology”, to appear in ACS Photonics(2022)[2]R. Nagy et al, “High-fidelity spin and optical control of single silicon-vacancy centres in silicon carbide”, Nature Communications10, 1 (2019)[3]M. Widmann et al, “Electrical charge state manipulation of single silicon vacancies in a silicon carbide quantum optoelectronic device”,Nanoletters19, 7173 (2019)