Publication Date:
2014-01-24
Description:
Nature Materials 13, 151 (2014). doi:10.1038/nmat3806 Authors: S. Castelletto, B. C. Johnson, V. Ivády, N. Stavrias, T. Umeda, A. Gali & T. Ohshima Over the past few years, single-photon generation has been realized in numerous systems: single molecules, quantum dots, diamond colour centres and others. The generation and detection of single photons play a central role in the experimental foundation of quantum mechanics and measurement theory. An efficient and high-quality single-photon source is needed to implement quantum key distribution, quantum repeaters and photonic quantum information processing. Here we report the identification and formation of ultrabright, room-temperature, photostable single-photon sources in a device-friendly material, silicon carbide (SiC). The source is composed of an intrinsic defect, known as the carbon antisite–vacancy pair, created by carefully optimized electron irradiation and annealing of ultrapure SiC. An extreme brightness (2×106 counts s−1) resulting from polarization rules and a high quantum efficiency is obtained in the bulk without resorting to the use of a cavity or plasmonic structure. This may benefit future integrated quantum photonic devices.
Print ISSN:
1476-1122
Electronic ISSN:
1476-4660
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
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Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
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Natural Sciences in General
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Physics
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