Room-Temperature Quantum Emitter in Aluminum Nitride

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a room-temperature quantum emitter in aluminum nitride that produces bright, pure, and polarized single-photon emission, advancing solid-state quantum technology applications.

Contribution

The study identifies and characterizes a new room-temperature quantum emitter in aluminum nitride, demonstrating its potential for quantum photonics.

Findings

Bright emission with >10^5 counts/sec

Pure single-photon emission with g^{(2)}(0) < 0.2

Polarized quantum light emission at room temperature

Abstract

A device that is able to produce single photons is a fundamental building block for a number of quantum technologies. Significant progress has been made in engineering quantum emission in the solid state, for instance, using semiconductor quantum dots as well as defect sites in bulk and two-dimensional materials. Here we report the discovery of a room-temperature quantum emitter embedded deep within the band gap of aluminum nitride. Using spectral, polarization, and photon-counting time-resolved measurements we demonstrate bright ($>10^5$ counts per second), pure ($g^{(2)}(0) < 0.2$), and polarized room-temperature quantum light emission from color centers in this commercially important semiconductor.