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Bright Purcell-Enhanced Single Photon Emission from a Silicon G Center
Kyu-Young Kim1, Chang-Min Lee2, Amirehsan Boreiri2
1Department of Physics, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
Nano Letters
|March 11, 2025
Summary
Silicon G centers, promising for quantum applications, are now brighter. Coupling them to nanophotonic cavities significantly boosts their single photon emission rate for scalable silicon quantum light sources.
Area of Science:
- Quantum optics
- Solid-state physics
- Nanophotonics
Background:
- Silicon G centers are promising for scalable quantum light sources.
- Nonradiative decay and low Debye-Waller factors limit their performance.
- Coupling emitters to optical cavities can enhance emission rates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate bright Purcell-enhanced emission from silicon G centers.
- To improve the brightness and emission rate of single photon sources in silicon.
- To enable scalable quantum light sources on a silicon photonic chip.
Main Methods:
- Coupling a single silicon G center to a nanobeam photonic cavity.
- Measuring the spontaneous emission rate and Purcell factor.
- Quantifying emitter brightness enhancement.
Main Results:
- Achieved a 6x enhancement in spontaneous emission rate.
- Obtained a Purcell factor greater than 31.
- Demonstrated the fastest single photon emission rate in silicon (0.97 ns).
- Achieved an order of magnitude improvement in emitter brightness.
Conclusions:
- Nanophotonic cavities can significantly enhance silicon G center emission.
- Purcell enhancement overcomes limitations of nonradiative decay.
- This work paves the way for practical silicon-based quantum light sources.
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