66 research outputs found
Bright single-photon sources in bottom-up tailored nanowires
The ability to achieve near-unity light extraction efficiency is necessary
for a truly deterministic single photon source. The most promising method to
reach such high efficiencies is based on embedding single photon emitters in
tapered photonic waveguides defined by top-down etching techniques. However,
light extraction efficiencies in current top-down approaches are limited by
fabrication imperfections and etching induced defects. The efficiency is
further tempered by randomly positioned off-axis quantum emitters. Here, we
present perfectly positioned single quantum dots on the axis of a tailored
nanowire waveguide using bottom-up growth. In comparison to quantum dots in
nanowires without waveguide, we demonstrate a 24-fold enhancement in the single
photon flux, corresponding to a light extraction efficiency of 42 %. Such high
efficiencies in one-dimensional nanowires are promising to transfer quantum
information over large distances between remote stationary qubits using flying
qubits within the same nanowire p-n junction.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figure
Conductive-probe atomic force microscopy characterization of silicon nanowire
The electrical conduction properties of lateral and vertical silicon nanowires (SiNWs) were investigated using a conductive-probe atomic force microscopy (AFM). Horizontal SiNWs, which were synthesized by the in-plane solid-liquid-solid technique, are randomly deployed into an undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer. Local current mapping shows that the wires have internal microstructures. The local current-voltage measurements on these horizontal wires reveal a power law behavior indicating several transport regimes based on space-charge limited conduction which can be assisted by traps in the high-bias regime (> 1 V). Vertical phosphorus-doped SiNWs were grown by chemical vapor deposition using a gold catalyst-driving vapor-liquid-solid process on higly n-type silicon substrates. The effect of phosphorus doping on the local contact resistance between the AFM tip and the SiNW was put in evidence, and the SiNWs resistivity was estimated
Avalanche amplification of a single exciton in a semiconductor nanowire
Interfacing single photons and electrons is a crucial ingredient for sharing
quantum information between remote solid-state qubits. Semiconductor nanowires
offer the unique possibility to combine optical quantum dots with avalanche
photodiodes, thus enabling the conversion of an incoming single photon into a
macroscopic current for efficient electrical detection. Currently, millions of
excitation events are required to perform electrical read-out of an exciton
qubit state. Here we demonstrate multiplication of carriers from only a single
exciton generated in a quantum dot after tunneling into a nanowire avalanche
photodiode. Due to the large amplification of both electrons and holes (>
10^4), we reduce by four orders of magnitude the number of excitation events
required to electrically detect a single exciton generated in a quantum dot.
This work represents a significant step towards single-shot electrical read-out
and offers a new functionality for on-chip quantum information circuits
Versatile control of metal-assisted chemical etching for vertical silicon microwire arrays and their photovoltaic applications
A systematic study was conducted into the use of metal-assisted chemical etching (MacEtch) to fabricate vertical Si microwire arrays, with several models being studied for the efficient redox reaction of reactants with silicon through a metal catalyst by varying such parameters as the thickness and morphology of the metal film. By optimizing the MacEtch conditions, high-quality vertical Si microwires were successfully fabricated with lengths of up to 23.2 mu m, which, when applied in a solar cell, achieved a conversion efficiency of up to 13.0%. These solar cells also exhibited an open-circuit voltage of 547.7 mV, a short-circuit current density of 33.2 mA/cm(2), and a fill factor of 71.3% by virtue of the enhanced light absorption and effective carrier collection provided by the Si microwires. The use of MacEtch to fabricate high-quality Si microwires therefore presents a unique opportunity to develop cost-effective and highly efficient solar cells.open1
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