title: Engineering near-infrared single-photon emitters with optically active spins in ultrapure silicon carbide.
abstract: Vacancy-related centres in silicon carbide are attracting growing attention because of their appealing optical and spin properties. These atomic-scale defects can be created using electron or neutron irradiation; however, their precise engineering has not been demonstrated yet. Here, silicon vacancies are generated in a nuclear reactor and their density is controlled over eight orders of magnitude within an accuracy down to a single vacancy level. An isolated silicon vacancy serves as a near-infrared photostable single-photon emitter, operating even at room temperature. The vacancy spins can be manipulated using an optically detected magnetic resonance technique, and we determine the transition rates and absorption cross-section, describing the intensity-dependent photophysics of these emitters. The on-demand engineering of optically active spins in technologically friendly materials is a crucial step toward implementation of both maser amplifiers, requiring high-density spin ensembles, and qubits based on single spins.
authors.affiliation: Experimental Physics VI, Julius-Maximilian University of Würzburg, Würzburg 97074, Germany.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.affiliation: Experimental Physics VI, Julius-Maximilian University of Würzburg, Würzburg 97074, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stender
authors.affiliation: Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, Atominstitut, TU Wien, Wien 1020, Austria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trupke
authors.affiliation: Experimental Physics VI, Julius-Maximilian University of Würzburg, Würzburg 97074, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Simin
authors.affiliation: Experimental Physics VI, Julius-Maximilian University of Würzburg, Würzburg 97074, Germany.|Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research (ZAE Bayern), Würzburg 97074, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pflaum
authors.affiliation: Experimental Physics VI, Julius-Maximilian University of Würzburg, Würzburg 97074, Germany.|Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research (ZAE Bayern), Würzburg 97074, Germany.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dyakonov
authors.affiliation: Experimental Physics VI, Julius-Maximilian University of Würzburg, Würzburg 97074, Germany.
authors.forename: G V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Astakhov