Silicon-based quantum emitters are candidates for large-scale qubit integration due to their single-photon emission properties and potential for spin-photon interfaces with long spin coherence times. Here, we demonstrate local writing and erasing of selected light-emitting defects using fs laser pulses in combination with hydrogen-based defect activation and passivation. By selecting forming gas (N2/H2) during thermal annealing of carbon-implanted silicon, we form Ci centers while passivating the more common G-centers. The Ci center is a telecom S-band emitter with very promising spin properties that consists of a single interstitial carbon atom in the silicon lattice. Density functional theory calculations show that the Ci center brightness is enhanced by several orders of magnitude in the presence of hydrogen. Fs-laser pulses locally affect the passivation or activation of quantum emitters with hydrogen and enable programmable quantum emitter formation in a qubit-by-design paradigm.
@article{arxiv.2307.05759,
title = {Programmable quantum emitter formation in silicon},
author = {K. Jhuria and V. Ivanov and D. Polley and W. Liu and A. Persaud and Y. Zhiyenbayev and W. Redjem and W. Qarony and P. Parajuli and Qing Ji and A. J. Gonsalves and J. Bokor and L. Z. Tan and B. Kante and T. Schenkel},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.05759},
year = {2023}
}