11 research outputs found
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Nanoscale Mapping of the 3D Strain Tensor in a Germanium Quantum Well Hosting a Functional Spin Qubit Device
A strained Ge quantum well, grown on a SiGe/Si virtual substrate and hosting two electrostatically defined hole spin qubits, is nondestructively investigated by synchrotron-based scanning X-ray diffraction microscopy to determine all its Bravais lattice parameters. This allows rendering the three-dimensional spatial dependence of the six strain tensor components with a lateral resolution of approximately 50 nm. Two different spatial scales governing the strain field fluctuations in proximity of the qubits are observed at 1 ÎŒm, respectively. The short-ranged fluctuations have a typical bandwidth of 2 Ă 10-4 and can be quantitatively linked to the compressive stressing action of the metal electrodes defining the qubits. By finite element mechanical simulations, it is estimated that this strain fluctuation is increased up to 6 Ă 10-4 at cryogenic temperature. The longer-ranged fluctuations are of the 10-3 order and are associated with misfit dislocations in the plastically relaxed virtual substrate. From this, energy variations of the light and heavy-hole energy maxima of the order of several 100 ÎŒeV and 1 meV are calculated for electrodes and dislocations, respectively. These insights over material-related inhomogeneities may feed into further modeling for optimization and design of large-scale quantum processors manufactured using the mainstream Si-based microelectronics technology
Ultrastrong Coupling of Si1âxGex Parabolic Quantum Wells toTerahertz Microcavities
Control and manipulation of quantum states by light are increasingly important for both fundamental research and applications. This can be achieved through the strong coupling between light and semiconductor devices, typically observed at THz frequencies in 2D electron gases embedded in lithographic optical cavities. Here, we explore the possibility of achieving ultrastrong coupling between conduction sub-band states in Si1âxGex heterostructures and THz cavity photons fabricated with a potentially silicon-CMOS-compliant process. We developed Si1âxGex parabolic quantum wells with a transition at Ï0 = 3.1 THz and hybrid metal-plasmonic THz patch-antenna microcavities resonating between 2 and 5 THz depending on the antenna length. In this first demonstration, we achieved anticrossing around 3 THz with spectroscopically measured Rabi frequency ΩR â 0.7 THz (ΩR/Ï0 â 0.2, i.e., ultrastrong coupling). The present group-IV semiconductor material platform can be extended to the 5â12 THz range, where these semiconductors are transparent, as opposed to the IIIâV compound semiconductors plagued by strong THz optical phonon absorption. Moreover, the intersubband transition in parabolic quantum wells hosted by the nonpolar Si1âxGex crystal lattice is robust against carrier density and temperature variations, making the strength of the coupling only weakly temperature-dependent from 10 to 300 K. These results pave the way for the employment of the Si1âxGex material platform to perform fundamental research in ultrastrong lightâmatter coupling, fully exploiting the plasmonic character of the cavity mirror, as well as in ultrafast modulators and saturable absorbers for THz laser research
The Interplay between Strain, Sn Content, and Temperature on Spatially Dependent Bandgap in Ge1âxSnx Microdisks
Germanium-tin (GeSn) microdisks are promising structures for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor-compatible lasing. Their emission properties depend on Sn concentration, strain, and operating temperature. Critically, the band structure of the alloy varies along the disk due to different lattice deformations associated with mechanical constraints. An experimental and numerical study of Ge1-x Sn x microdisk with Sn concentration between 8.5 and 14 at% is reported. Combining finite element method calculations, micro-Raman and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy enables a comprehensive understanding of mechanical deformation, where computational predictions are experimentally validated, leading to a robust model and insight into the strain landscape. Through micro-photoluminescence experiments, the temperature dependence of the bandgap of Ge1-x Sn x is parametrized using the Varshni formula with respect to strain and Sn content. These results are the input for spatially dependent band structure calculations based on deformation potential theory. It is observed that Sn content and temperature have comparable effects on the bandgap, yielding a decrease of more than 20 meV for an increase of 1 at% or 100 K, respectively. The impact of the strain gradient is also analyzed. These findings correlate structural properties to emission wavelength and spectral width of microdisk lasers, thus demonstrating the importance of material-related consideration on the design of optoelectronic microstructures
Nanoscale Mapping of the 3D Strain Tensor in a Germanium Quantum Well Hosting a Functional Spin Qubit Device
A strained Ge quantum well, grown on a SiGe/Si virtual substrate and hosting two electrostatically defined hole spin qubits, is nondestructively investigated by synchrotron-based scanning X-ray diffraction microscopy to determine all its Bravais lattice parameters. This allows rendering the three-dimensional spatial dependence of the six strain tensor components with a lateral resolution of approximately 50 nm. Two different spatial scales governing the strain field fluctuations in proximity of the qubits are observed at <100 nm and >1 ÎŒm, respectively. The short-ranged fluctuations have a typical bandwidth of 2 Ă 10-4 and can be quantitatively linked to the compressive stressing action of the metal electrodes defining the qubits. By finite element mechanical simulations, it is estimated that this strain fluctuation is increased up to 6 Ă 10-4 at cryogenic temperature. The longer-ranged fluctuations are of the 10-3 order and are associated with misfit dislocations in the plastically relaxed virtual substrate. From this, energy variations of the light and heavy-hole energy maxima of the order of several 100 ÎŒeV and 1 meV are calculated for electrodes and dislocations, respectively. These insights over material-related inhomogeneities may feed into further modeling for optimization and design of large-scale quantum processors manufactured using the mainstream Si-based microelectronics technology. </p
High optical gain in InP-based quantum-dot material monolithically grown on silicon emitting at telecom wavelengths
Gefördert im Rahmen eines Open-Access-Transformationsvertrags mit dem Verla
High-quality CMOS compatible n-type SiGe parabolic quantum wells for intersubband photonics at 2.5â5 THz
A parabolic potential that confines charge carriers along the growth direction of quantum wells semiconductor systems is characterized by a single resonance frequency, associated to intersubband transitions. Motivated by fascinating quantum optics applications leveraging on this property, we use the technologically relevant SiGe material system to design, grow, and characterize n-type doped parabolic quantum wells realized by continuously grading Ge-rich Si1-xGex alloys, deposited on silicon wafers. An extensive structural analysis highlights the capability of the ultra-high-vacuum chemical vapor deposition technique here used to precisely control the quadratic confining potential and the target doping profile. The absorption spectrum, measured by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, revealed a single peak with a full width at half maximum at low and room temperature of about 2 and 5 meV, respectively, associated to degenerate intersubband transitions. The energy of the absorption resonance scales with the inverse of the well width, covering the 2.5-5 THz spectral range, and is almost independent of temperature and doping, as predicted for a parabolic confining potential. On the basis of these results, we discuss the perspective observation of THz strong light-matter coupling in this silicon compatible material system, leveraging on intersubband transitions embedded in all-semiconductor microcavities
Nanoscale Mapping of the 3D Strain Tensor in a Germanium Quantum Well Hosting a Functional Spin Qubit Device
A strained Ge quantum
well, grown on a SiGe/Si virtual substrate
and hosting two electrostatically defined hole spin qubits, is nondestructively
investigated by synchrotron-based scanning X-ray diffraction microscopy
to determine all its Bravais lattice parameters. This allows rendering
the three-dimensional spatial dependence of the six strain tensor
components with a lateral resolution of approximately 50 nm. Two different
spatial scales governing the strain field fluctuations in proximity
of the qubits are observed at 1 ÎŒm, respectively.
The short-ranged fluctuations have a typical bandwidth of 2 Ă
10â4 and can be quantitatively linked to the compressive
stressing action of the metal electrodes defining the qubits. By finite
element mechanical simulations, it is estimated that this strain fluctuation
is increased up to 6 Ă 10â4 at cryogenic temperature.
The longer-ranged fluctuations are of the 10â3 order
and are associated with misfit dislocations in the plastically relaxed
virtual substrate. From this, energy variations of the light and heavy-hole
energy maxima of the order of several 100 ÎŒeV and 1 meV are
calculated for electrodes and dislocations, respectively. These insights
over material-related inhomogeneities may feed into further modeling
for optimization and design of large-scale quantum processors manufactured
using the mainstream Si-based microelectronics technology
Nanoscale Mapping of the 3D Strain Tensor in a Germanium Quantum Well Hosting a Functional Spin Qubit Device
A strained Ge quantum well, grown on a SiGe/Si virtual substrate and hosting two electrostatically defined hole spin qubits, is nondestructively investigated by synchrotron-based scanning X-ray diffraction microscopy to determine all its Bravais lattice parameters. This allows rendering the three-dimensional spatial dependence of the six strain tensor components with a lateral resolution of approximately 50 nm. Two different spatial scales governing the strain field fluctuations in proximity of the qubits are observed at <100 nm and >1 ÎŒm, respectively. The short-ranged fluctuations have a typical bandwidth of 2 Ă 10-4 and can be quantitatively linked to the compressive stressing action of the metal electrodes defining the qubits. By finite element mechanical simulations, it is estimated that this strain fluctuation is increased up to 6 Ă 10-4 at cryogenic temperature. The longer-ranged fluctuations are of the 10-3 order and are associated with misfit dislocations in the plastically relaxed virtual substrate. From this, energy variations of the light and heavy-hole energy maxima of the order of several 100 ÎŒeV and 1 meV are calculated for electrodes and dislocations, respectively. These insights over material-related inhomogeneities may feed into further modeling for optimization and design of large-scale quantum processors manufactured using the mainstream Si-based microelectronics technology. QCD/Veldhorst LabBUS/TNO STAFFQN/Veldhorst LabQCD/Scappucci La
Subnanometer Control of the Heteroepitaxial Growth of Multimicrometer-Thick Ge/(Si,Ge) Quantum Cascade Structures
The fabrication of complex low-dimensional quantum devices requires the control of the heteroepitaxial growth at the subnanometer scale. This is particularly challenging when the total thickness of stacked layers of device-active material becomes extremely large and exceeds the multi-ÎŒm limit, as in the case of quantum cascade structures. Here, we use the ultrahigh-vacuum chemical vapor deposition technique for the growth of multi-ÎŒm-thick stacks of high Gecontent strain-balanced
Ge/SiGe tunneling heterostructures on Si substrates, designed to serve as the active material in a THz quantum cascade laser. By combining thorough structural investigation with THz spectroscopy absorption experiments and numerical simulations we show that the optimized deposition process can produce state-of-the-art threading dislocation density, ultrasharp interfaces, control of dopant atom position at the nanoscale, and reproducibility within 1% of the layer thickness and composition within the whole multilayer. We show that by using ultrahigh-vacuum chemical vapor deposition one achieves simultaneously a control of the epitaxy down to the sub-nm scale typical of the molecular beam epitaxy, and the high growth rate and technological relevance of chemical vapor deposition. Thus, this technique is a key enabler for the deposition of integrated THz devices and other complex quantum structures based on the Ge/SiGe material system