All-silicon light-emitting diodes waveguide-integrated with superconducting single-photon detectors

TL;DR

This paper presents the development of cryogenic, waveguide-integrated silicon LEDs with superconducting single-photon detectors, enabling scalable on-chip optical links for quantum and neuromorphic computing.

Contribution

It introduces a novel integrated platform combining silicon LEDs with SNSPDs, demonstrating scalability and potential for quantum and neuromorphic applications.

Findings

LED operates at 1.22 μm wavelength

Integrated with 11 SNSPDs on a single chip

Potential for scalable quantum photonic circuits

Abstract

We demonstrate cryogenic, electrically-injected, waveguide-coupled Si light-emitting diodes (LEDs) operating at 1.22 $\mu$m. The active region of the LED consists of W centers implanted in the intrinsic region of a $p$-$i$-$n$ diode. The LEDs are integrated on waveguides with superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs). We demonstrate the scalability of this platform with an LED coupled to eleven SNSPDs in a single integrated photonic device. Such on-chip optical links may be useful for quantum information or neuromorphic computing applications.