There is growing interest in the possibilities of SiC in spin-based quantum computation. The development of such spin-based quantum computation will require a fundamental understanding of spin physics of paramagnetic defects in SiC including both electron and nuclear paramagnetism. We utilize electrically detected magnetic resonance (EDMR) detection through spin dependent recombination (SDR). In this study we demonstrate relatively high signal to noise electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) in a single fully processed SiC pn junction at room temperature. The electrically detected ENDOR (EDENDOR) involves nitrogen nuclei in close proximity to deep level centers within the depletion region of the pn junction; the deep levels are almost certainly silicon vacancies.

We believe these observations are of importance for at least two reasons: (1) they demonstrate that the enormous analytical power of ENDOR can be extended to the study of problems in conventional solid-state electronics and (2) the results demonstrate a way to directly monitor small numbers of nuclear spins through the measure of electronic currents.

In our EDMR measurements, a slowly varying magnetic field and an oscillating microwave frequency magnetic field are applied to the sample inside a microwave cavity. As in conventional EPR, energy is absorbed by paramagnetic sites when the resonance condition is met. For a simple case, this resonance condition is hv=gμ_BB±Σm_iA_i, where h is Planck’s constant, g is an orientation dependent number typically expressed in a g-tensor, μ_Bis the Bohr magneton, B is the magnetic field, m_iis the spin quantum number of the i^th nucleus, and A_i is the hyperfine interaction of the i^th magnetic nucleus. In EDMR, the EPR response is detected through a change in device current, in our case due to SDR.

The devices in this study are 4H-SiC BJTs. The EDMR response obtained on these BJTs is very similar to an EDMR spectrum that has been linked to a silicon vacancy in 4H-SiC MOSFETs. To perform the EDENDOR measurement, the magnetic field is held constant and an NMR frequency sweep is applied to the device. The device current is measured and a large response is measured at what is unambiguously the nuclear frequency of nitrogen. These results demonstrate the analytical power of the EDENDOR measurement, measuring nitrogen in the vicinity of the silicon vacancy defect centers that are measured with EDMR.

This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under award number NO. FA9550-17-1-0242.

Rare earth dopants in III-V semiconductors are of interest as high quality optical sources due to the preservation of sharp intra-f-shell transitions. The long optical coherence lifetime and narrow energy width of these transitions, at 1.54 um, make them a candidate for quantum communication. Here we investigate Er interactions with host GaAs (110) surface with atomic resolution using STM. Er atoms were deposited via electron beam evaporation onto the GaAs surface at 5 K. We find three different Er_ad configurations with varying abundance upon deposition, each with a different surface site location. All three configurations exhibit long-range depressions in STM topographic images, attributed to band bending associated with a positive adatom charge state. Individual Er adatoms can be switched between these states by applying a positive voltage pulse with the STM tip. Tunneling spectroscopy on Er adsorbed at the interstitial sites reveals prominent states within the GaAs bandgap, but no evidence of sharp f-shell transitions inferred from bulk optical studies. We also form substitutional Er_Ga by applying a larger positive voltage pulse. Substitutional Er appears neutral, which we attribute to it being isoelectronic with Ga. This work acknowledges funding from the DOE (DE-SC0016379).

Silicon carbide has been a material of interest in the quantum technology field for future applications in communication and sensing due in part to the long spin (S = 3/2) coherent lifetime of the Si vacancies (V_Si). Additional benefits to using SiC for quantum technologies is wafer scalability and fabrication capability using standard processing techniques, making it a favorable material. To improve emission rates of photoluminescence from the vacancies, exact placement of the V_Si within microcavities is necessary. Here we show implanted Li⁺ into Si-face, 4H-SiC homoepitaxy creates V_Si in desired locations. The epitaxial material had no measurable V_Si prior to Li⁺ implantation. The dose of 100 keV Lⁱ⁺ ranged from 10¹² – 10¹⁵ cm^-2 and was directed using a maskless focused ion beam technique with a positional accuracy of ~25 nm. The arrays were characterized with high-resolution scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy. Using a 745 nm excitation source, the photoluminescence ranging from 860 – 975 nm produced the characteristic V1’, V1 and V2 lines, with the V1’ zero-phonon line being consistent for all measurements. In addition, the V1’ intensity showed a linear dependence with implantation dose. Moreover, near single photon emission is obtained from V_Si at the lowest doses.

Research at NRL is supported by the Office of Naval Research. Ion implantation was performed at Sandia National Laboratories through the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, an Office of Science facility operated for the DOE (contract DE-NA-0003525) by Sandia Corporation, a Honeywell subsidiary.

Silicon carbide (SiC) has recently found promise and applications in the quantum world, because of various fluorescent point defects that serve as an intriguing platform for solid-state quantum information and quantum sensing technologies. One such native point defect is the negatively charged silicon vacancy (V_Si^-)in the 4H polytype of SiC. This color center can occupy two inequivalent lattice sites, resulting in two distinct zero-phonon-lines (ZPL) at 862nm and 916nm. V_Si^- possesses good spin coherence properties, with spin states that can be initialized and read out optically. Unfortunately, low branching ratio is a characteristic of the V_Si^- spectrum where a small fraction of the total emission is coupled into the ZPL and the rest is emitted into the phonon sideband. This low emission fraction limits the ability to employ V_Si^- in various quantum information schemes. To increase the fraction of light emitted into the ZPL and increase the defect emission rate, we fabricated high-quality factor nanophotonic crystal cavities designed to match the ZPL frequency. Through tuning of the cavity into resonance with the ZPLs, we have demonstrated a 75-fold Purcell enhancement at 4K. This talk will describe the fabrication process for 1D nanobeam photonic crystal cavities, leading to quality factors in excess of 10⁴. The highest cavity-defect interactions depend on resonance in frequency and high spatial overlap of the defect with the maximum electric field within the cavity. Using the cavity as a “nanoscope”, revealing defect position, we used laser irradiation annealing at varying times and different laser frequencies to infer the diffusive motion of defects within the cavity. We showed that a systematic and controlled laser annealing can increase the ZPL of the implanted cavity mode by a factor of 4.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are intrinsically heterogeneous, thereforecontrolling defects, understanding the impact of boundaries and interfaces and developing means to exploit these heterogeneities is a transformative opportunity that could underpin future technologies and energy applications. In this talk, I will discuss the fundamental understanding of the roles of heterogeneities including defects, dopants, edges, strain, and phases in 2D materials on their optoelectronic properties. Through isoelectronic doping in monolayer of MoSe₂, the Se vacancies are effectively suppressed and photoluminescence is significantly enhanced. In addition, we demonstrate the non-equilibrium, bottom-up growth approach not only can tailor the defect density far beyond intrinsic levels in monolayers of 2D MoSe_2−x but also create new antisite defects in monolayers of WS₂during the synthesis. The build-in localized strain in 2D crystals directly grown on patterned curved surface can tune the bandgap of 2D crystals for possible quantum emitting applications. The bottom up synthesis of 2D materials discussed here provides excellent control over the heterogeneity in 2D materials, which can modulate the optical and electrical properties in 2D materials and their heterostructures for ultra-thin and flexible electronics.

Acknowledgment: Synthesis science was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Materials Sciences and Engineering Division and characterizations were performed at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility.

Superconducting resonators are important for application in quantum computing but require high quality factors. Much work has been done on superconducting resonators fabricated from aluminum thin films on sapphire, and superconducting Josephson tunnel junctions made from aluminum are used as the basis for quantum bit designs. In addition, epitaxial aluminum films has attracted attention in plasmonics due to their superior performance in the UV regime compared to Au and Ag, and their compatibility with current CMOS technology. Sapphire substrates are chemically stable and have low lattice mismatch with aluminum, allowing higher film quality without the need for elaborate substrate preparation and time-consuming growth procedures.

Epitaxial aluminum films were successfully grown by off-axis magnetron sputtering on c-plane sapphire. This study assessed the effects of varying both substrate preparation conditions and growth and prebake temperatures on crystallinity and smoothness. X-ray diffraction and reflectivity measurements demonstrate superior crystallinity and surface smoothness for films grown at 200℃ in15mTorr Ar. An additional substrate preparation procedure which involves 1) a modified RCA procedure and 2) prebake in oxygen environment is shown by atomic force microscopy to be highly effective in reducing void density and depth.

Nanomagnets hold significant potential for use as building blocks for room temperature quantum computers. Bistability based on stable ground magnetization states means power dissipation can be extremely low and their small size allows magnetization to be maintained for a long period time [1]. With packing density on the order of 10¹⁰ /cm² and switching frequency in the terahertz range, nanomagnets are a promising replacement for current state of art metal oxide semiconductor processes that are already at the limits of continued scaling. In this work, we present the results of simulations of touching nanomagnetic disks that can be used for room operable quantum computing. Like gears in a mechanical system, the chirality of the magnetization in each disk is determined through interaction with its neighbors. These simulations offer insight into the switching dynamics within the disks as current experimental techniques lack the combined temporal and spatial resolution needed to observe the formation and annihilation of the magnetic domains that facilitate the switching process. The switching of touching symmetric disks can be achieved at zero applied field as the disks settle into a remanent vortex state, meaning minimal energy loss during the process. Due to the quantum exchange force, at the point of contact between disks, the magnetization vectors rotate in the same direction giving rise to opposite chiralities in the disks. Since logic states can be represented using the chirality of the in-plane magnetization, configurations of touching disks can potentially be used to implement basic or complex logic functions. Maintaining coherence of opposite chirality in chains of disks was achieved with the introduction of a biasing element to eliminate the bidirectionality of interaction between disks.

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