Photophysics of O-band and transition metal color centers in monolithic silicon for quantum communications

Abstract Color centers in the O-band (1260–1360 nm) are crucial for realizing long-coherence quantum network nodes in memory-assisted quantum communications. However, only a limited number of O-band color centers have been thoroughly explored in silicon hosts as spin-photon interfaces. This study ex...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Murat Can Sarihan, Jiahui Huang, Jin Ho Kang, Cody Fan, Wei Liu, Khalifa M. Azizur-Rahman, Baolai Liang, Chee Wei Wong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-01-01
Series:Communications Physics
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-01954-0
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Summary:Abstract Color centers in the O-band (1260–1360 nm) are crucial for realizing long-coherence quantum network nodes in memory-assisted quantum communications. However, only a limited number of O-band color centers have been thoroughly explored in silicon hosts as spin-photon interfaces. This study explores and compares two promising O-band color centers in silicon for high-fidelity spin-photon interfaces: T and *Cu (transition metal) centers. During T center generation process, we observed the formation and dissolution of other color centers, including the copper-silver related centers with a doublet line around 1312 nm (* $${{{\rm{Cu}}}}_{n}^{0}$$ Cu n 0 ), near the optical fiber zero dispersion wavelength (around 1310 nm). We then investigated the photophysics of both T and *Cu centers, focusing on their emission spectra and spin properties. The * $${{{\rm{Cu}}}}_{0}^{0}$$ Cu 0 0 line under a 0.5 T magnetic field demonstrated a 25% broadening, potentially due to spin degeneracy, suggesting that this center can be a promising alternative to T centers.
ISSN:2399-3650