Efficient single-photon emission from electrically driven InP quantum dots epitaxially grown on Si(001)

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates efficient, electrically driven single-photon emission from InP quantum dots grown on silicon, advancing integrated quantum photonics by combining III-V nanostructures with silicon substrates.

Contribution

It presents the first electrically driven single-photon emission from InP quantum dots epitaxially grown on silicon, showing potential for silicon-based quantum photonic devices.

Findings

Single-photon emission achieved on silicon substrates.

Luminescence comparable to III-V devices.

Potential for integration with silicon photonics.

Abstract

The heteroepitaxy of III-V semiconductors on silicon is a promising approach for making silicon a photonic platform for on-chip optical interconnects and quantum optical applications. Monolithic integration of both material systems is a long-time challenge, since different material properties lead to high defect densities in the epitaxial layers. In recent years, nanostructures however have shown to be suitable for successfully realising light emitters on silicon, taking advantage of their geometry. Facet edges and sidewalls can minimise or eliminate the formation of dislocations, and due to the reduced contact area, nanostructures are little affected by dislocation networks. Here we demonstrate the potential of indium phosphide quantum dots as efficient light emitters on CMOS-compatible silicon substrates, with luminescence characteristics comparable to mature devices realised on III-V substrates. For the first time, electrically driven single-photon emission on silicon is presented, meeting the wavelength range of silicon avalanche photo diodes' highest detection efficiency.