RAISE-TAQS: Integrated Circuits of Single-Photon Sources from Organic Color-Centers

University Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators

Abstract

This project will unite complementary expertise in quantum materials chemistry, theoretical physics, and quantum information science through an integrated collaboration involving two departments at the University of Maryland (Chemistry and Biochemistry, Electrical and Computer Engineering) and the UMD-NIST Joint Quantum Institute. It will also leverage ongoing collaborations with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) on photophysics and with IBM on electronics interfacing. The project will promote the progress of science by advancing fundamental understanding of excitons at trapping defects and realizing a single-photon source that operates at room temperature and can be driven electrically. In addition to advancing an emerging frontier across chemistry, physics, quantum information science, and engineering, the work in this project is anticipated to also have a positive societal impact. First, the work will contribute to the development of next-generation computing and information technology by building interfaces between electronics and single-photon optics. Second, the project will provide exciting opportunities to engage students and reach a broader community. Particularly, this collaborative project will provide unique training opportunities for the next-generation workforce in quantum information science and technology through close collaborations with IBM and LANL, which are expected to enrich graduate training in this quickly evolving interdisciplinary field. This RAISE project will focus on probing and controlling the radiative recombination of electrons and holes at organic color-centers with the goal of achieving electrically driven single-photon sources that work at room temperature. Because the color centers are directly created in a carbon nanotube semiconductor host that can be controlled with established semiconductor technologies, electrons and holes can be electrically injected and directed to the color center where they recombine to produce single photons. This hypothesis is strongly supported by preliminary results and will be fully verified by experimental and theoretical efforts. The work is potentially groundbreaking and technologically transformative. First, organic color-centers provide a chemical pathway to synthesize high-quality single-photon sources. Unlike other color centers, which typically occur as native defects, organic color-centers can be synthetically created with molecular precision, thus opening vast opportunities for chemical innovation. Second, organic color-centers act as a two-level system in a semiconductor, effectively providing a "desktop atomic physics" laboratory for studying quasi-particles such as excitons and trions in trapping defects. Third, single-photon sources that can be driven electrically and work at room temperature will be an enabling element for quantum information science. Single photons are ideal quantum bits because they exhibit nearly infinite coherence time and can propagate over long distances. However, currently available solid-state single-photon sources suffer from limited scalability. Organic color-centers can be synthetically created in a semiconductor with molecular precision, opening up the possibility to address this significant challenge. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.