Electrically driven single-photon emitting devices have immediate applications in quantum cryptography, quantum computation and single-photon metrology. Mature device fabrication protocols and the recent observations of single defect systems with quantum functionalities make silicon carbide an ideal material to build such devices. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of bright single-photon emitting diodes. The electrically driven emitters display fully polarized output, superior photon statistics (with a count rate of 4300 kHz) and stability in both continuous and pulsed modes, all at room temperature. The atomic origin of the single-photon source is proposed. These results provide a foundation for the large scale integration of single-photon sources into a broad range of applications, such as quantum cryptography or linear optics quantum computing.

This paper summarizes key findings in single-photon generation from deep level defects in silicon carbide (SiC) and highlights the significance of these individually addressable centers for emerging quantum applications. Single photon emission from various defect centers in both bulk and nanostructured SiC are discussed as well as their formation and possible integration into optical and electrical devices. The related measurement protocols, the building blocks of quantum communication and computation network architectures in solid state systems, are also summarized. This includes experimental methodologies developed for spin control of different paramagnetic defects, including the measurement of spin coherence times. Well established doping, and micro- and nanofabrication procedures for SiC may allow the quantum properties of paramagnetic defects to be electrically and mechanically controlled efficiently. The integration of single defects into SiC devices is crucial for applications in quantum technologies and we will review progress in this direction.

Diamond-based p-i-n light-emitting diodes capable of single-photon emission in the visible spectral region at room temperature are discussed. The diodes were fabricated on a high quality single crystal diamond grown by chemical vapor deposition. Implantation of boron and phosphorus ions followed by annealing at a temperature of 1600 °C has been used for doping p-type and n-type areas, respectively. Electrical characterization of the devices demonstrates clear diode behavior. Spectra of electroluminescence generated in the i-area reveal sole emission from the neutral nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defects. Photon antibunching implies single-photon character of this emission when generated by individual NV defects.

In this work, we present the creation and characterisation of single photon emitters at the surface of 4H- and 6H-SiC, and of 3C-SiC epitaxially grown on silicon. These emitters can be created by annealing in an oxygen atmosphere at temperatures above 550 °C. By using standard confocal microscopy techniques, we find characteristic spectral signatures in the visible region. The excited state lifetimes are found to be in the nanosecond regime in all three polytypes, and the emission dipoles are aligned with the lattice. HF-etching is shown to effectively annihilate the defects and to restore an optically clean surface. The defects described in this work have ideal characteristics for broadband single photon generation in the visible spectral region at room temperature and for integration into nanophotonic devices.

Global quantum networks for secure communication can be realized using large fleets of satellites distributing entangled photon pairs between ground-based nodes. Because the cost of a satellite depends on its size, the smallest satellites will be most cost-effective. This Letter describes a miniaturized, polarization entangled, photon-pair source operating on board a nano-satellite. The source violates Bell’s inequality with a Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt parameter of 2.60 ± 0.06 . This source can be combined with optical link technologies to enable future quantum communication nano-satellite missions.

We demonstrate the integration of bright, fully polarized single-photon emitters readily created by thermal oxidation of cubic silicon carbide (SiC) into microdisk resonators. The resonators are created by a direct laser beam writing lithography technique that is used to align the position of the resonator to a preselected single defect. Quality factors as high as 1900 are measured. We show the presence of whispering gallery modes in the emission spectrum of a single defect and an increase in the detected emission intensity. The experimental work is supported by numerical calculations of the electric field distribution in the resonators.

Nanostructured and bulk silicon carbide (SiC) has recently emerged as a novel platform for quantum nanophotonics due to its harboring of paramagnetic color centers, having immediate applications as a single photon source and spin optical probes. Here, using ultra-short pulsed laser ablation, we fabricated from electron irradiated bulk 4H-SiC, 40-50 nm diameter SiC nanoparticles, fluorescent at 850-950 nm. This photoluminescence is attributed to the silicon vacancy color centers. We demonstrate that the original silicon vacancy color centers from the target sample were retained in the final nanoparticles solution, exhibiting excellent colloidal stability in water over several months. Our work is relevant for quantum nanophotonics, magnetic sensing, and biomedical imaging applications.

We present an optical design where polarization-entangled photon pairs are generated within two β-Barium Borate crystals whose optical axes are parallel. This design increases the spatial mode overlap of the emitted photon pairs enhancing single mode collection without the need for additional spatial walk-off compensators. The observed photon pair rate is at least 65 000 pairs/s/mW with a quantum state fidelity of 99.53 ± 0.22% when pumped with an elliptical spatial profile.