Silicon-vacancy color centers in phosphorous-doped diamond for bright single-photon emission under electrical pumping

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Mario Agio
• Subject Area: Experimental Condensed Matter Physics ; Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 410405168

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

Efficient and scalable single-photon sources (SPSs) are crucial to the development of numerous quantum information technologies, such as optical quantum computers and unconditionally secure communication lines. SPSs based on quantum dots have shown much progress in the last two decades, but under ambient conditions they are being overcome by the recent advances in color centers in diamond and related wide-bandgap semiconductors. Color centers are point defects in the crystal lattice that behave nearly as isolated atoms. This property allows to obtain bright photo- and electroluminescence with a sharp emission spectrum, which cannot be achieved with any other quantum optoelectronic system under ambient conditions. However, it is still challenging to design scalable and reproducible technologies based on these emitters. It is difficult to precisely combine them with photonic and electronic nanostructures that are needed for achieving high brightness and control. This project aimed at developing and investigating a novel class of bright SPSs on diamond, which operate under ambient conditions and that can be efficiently electrically driven. The focus was on a novel electrical pumping scheme based on a Schottky diode, which gives the possibility of efficiently injecting minority carriers in diamond directly from the metal and it does not require complex and expensive p-i-n and p-n diamond junctions. We created silicon vacancy (SiV) color centers in phosphorous-doped diamond and investigated their singlephoton emission properties. Next, we obtained Schottky diodes by fabricating suitable gold contacts. We demonstrated the possibility of electrical excitation of SiV centers at room a higher temperature using such devices. Thus, we provided a proof of concepts of a chipscale diamond-based light source that will serve as, and inspire, novel SPS for quantum information and quantum communication, but also a new class of light-emitting diodes based on diamond. Our activities also generated valuable knowledge in nanophotonics and materials science, which shall be transferred to other application areas.

Publications

• Exploring ultrafast single-photon emission of silicon-vacancy color centers in diamond nano-membranes coupled with gold nano-cones. Quantum Nanophotonic Materials, Devices, and Systems 2019, 5. SPIE.
  Kambalathmana, Haritha; Flatae, Assegid Mengistu; Lagomarsino, Stefano; Galal, Hossam; Tantussi, Francesco; Messina, Gabriele C.; Wörner, Eckart; Wild, Christoph; Gelli, Nicla; Sciortino, Silvio; Giuntini, Lorenzo; De Angelis, Francesco & Agio, Mario
  
• Optical studies of silicon-vacancy color centers in phosphorus-doped diamond, DPG Spring Meeting, Hannover 2020 Q.46.1 (2020)
  F. Sledz, A.M. Flatae, S. Lagomarsino, N. Soltani, S.S. Nicley, K. Haenen, R. Rechenberg, M.F. Becker & M. Agio
  
• Silicon-vacancy color centers in phosphorus-doped diamond, Diamond and Related Materials 105, 107797 (2020)
  A. M. Flatae, S. Lagomarsino, F. Sledz, N. Soltani, S. S. Nicley, K. Haenen, R. Rechenberg, M. F. Becker, S. Sciortino, N. Gelli, L. Giuntini, F. Taccetti & M. Agio
  
• Creation of Silicon-Vacancy Color Centers in Diamond by Ion Implantation. Frontiers in Physics, 8.
  Lagomarsino, S.; Flatae, A. M.; Kambalathmana, H.; Sledz, F.; Hunold, L.; Soltani, N.; Reuschel, P.; Sciortino, S.; Gelli, N.; Massi, M.; Czelusniak, C.; Giuntini, L. & Agio, M.
  
• LED und Herstellungsverfahren dafür, Patent Pending Nr. DE102021123907.9, German Patent Office (2021)
  F. Sledz, L. Hunold, N. Soltani, A. Flatae & M. Agio
  
• Optical properties of silicon-implanted polycrystalline diamond membranes. Carbon, 174, 295-304.
  Kambalathmana, H.; Flatae, A.M.; Hunold, L.; Sledz, F.; Müller, J.; Hepp, M.; Schmuki, P.; Killian, M.S.; Lagomarsino, S.; Gelli, N.; Sciortino, S.; Giuntini, L.; Wörner, E.; Wild, C.; Butz, B. & Agio, M.
  
• Photoluminescence of nitrogen-vacancy and silicon-vacancy color centers in phosphorus-doped diamond at room and higher temperatures, Nuovo Cimento C 44, 106 (2021);
  F. Sledz, S. Piccolomo, A. M. Flatae, S. Lagomarsino, R. Rechenberg, M. F. Becker, S. Sciortino, N. Gelli, I. A. Khramtsov, D. Yu. Fedyanin, L. Giuntini, G. Speranza & M. Agio
  
• Scalable Creation of Deep Silicon‐Vacancy Color Centers in Diamond by Ion Implantation through a 1‐μm Pinhole. Advanced Quantum Technologies, 4(12).
  Hunold, Lukas; Lagomarsino, Stefano; Flatae, Assegid M.; Kambalathmana, Haritha; Sledz, Florian; Sciortino, Silvio; Gelli, Nicla; Giuntini, Lorenzo & Agio, Mario
  
• Electrical excitation of color centers in phosphorus-doped diamond Schottky diodes, DPG Spring Meeting, Erlangen 2022 Q.53.6 (2022)
  F. Sledz, I.A. Khramtsov, A.M. Flatae, S. Lagomarsino, N. Soltani, S.S. Nicley, K. Haenen, J. Qun, X. Jiang, P. Kienitz, P. Haring Bolivar, D.Y. Fedyanin & M. Agio
  
• Light emission from color centers in phosphorus-doped diamond. EPJ Web of Conferences, 266, 09008.
  Sledz, Florian; Flatae, Assegid M.; Lagomarsino, Stefano; Piccolomo, Savino; Nicley, Shannon S.; Haenen, Ken; Rechenberg, Robert; Becker, Michael F.; Sciortino, Silvio; Gelli, Nicla; Giuntini, Lorenzo; Speranza, Giorgio & Agio, Mario
  
• Electrical excitation of color centers in phosphorus-doped diamond Schottky diodes, DPG Spring Meeting, Dresden 2023 HL.29.10 (2023)
  F. Sledz, I.A. Khramtsov, A.M. Flatae, S. Lagomarsino, N. Soltani, S.S. Nicley, R.Rouzbahani, P. Pobedinskas, K. Haenen, J. Qun, X. Jiang, P. Kienitz, P. Haring Bolivar, D.Y. Fedyanin & M. Agio
  
• Highly-efficient extraction of single photons from silicon vacancy in diamond using plasmonic nanoantenna, DPG Spring Meeting, Hannover 2023 Q.21.7 (2023)
  I. Fradkin, M. Agio & D. Fedyanin
  
• Plasmonic Nanocone Scanning Antenna: Fabrication and Optical Properties. Advanced Photonics Research, 5(3).
  Kambalathmana, Haritha; Flatae, Assegid Mengistu; Biagini, Claudio; Tantussi, Francesco; De Angelis, Francesco & Agio, Mario
  
• Single-photon emission from silicon-vacancy color centers in polycrystalline diamond membranes. Applied Physics Letters, 124(9).
  Flatae, Assegid Mengistu; Sledz, Florian; Kambalathmana, Haritha; Lagomarsino, Stefano; Wang, Hongcai; Gelli, Nicla; Sciortino, Silvio; Wörner, Eckhard; Wild, Christoph; Butz, Benjamin & Agio, Mario
  
• Electrically driven quantum emitters in diamond and silicon carbide. Nanophotonics with Diamond and Silicon Carbide for Quantum Technologies, 369-388. Elsevier.
  Sledz, Florian; Khramtsov, Igor; Flatae, Assegid M.; Rouzbahani, Rozita; Pobedinskas, Paulius; Haenen, Ken; Fedyanin, Dmitry Yu. & Agio, Mario