RAISE-TAQS: Integrated Circuits of Single-Photon Sources from Organic Color-Centers

该项目将通过马里兰大学两个系(化学和生物化学、电气和计算机工程)和UMD-NIST联合量子研究所的综合合作，联合量子材料化学、理论物理和量子信息科学方面的互补专业知识。它还将利用正在进行的与洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室(LANL)在光物理方面的合作以及与IBM在电子接口方面的合作。该项目将促进对捕获缺陷激子的基本了解，并实现在室温下工作并可以电驱动的单光子源，从而推动科学进步。除了推进化学、物理、量子信息科学和工程学的新兴前沿外，该项目的工作预计还将产生积极的社会影响。首先，这项工作将通过在电子学和单光子光学之间建立接口，为下一代计算和信息技术的发展做出贡献。其次，该项目将提供令人兴奋的机会，让学生参与进来，并接触到更广泛的社区。特别是，这一合作项目将通过与IBM和LANL的密切合作，为量子信息科学和技术领域的下一代劳动力提供独特的培训机会，预计这将丰富这一快速发展的跨学科领域的研究生培训。这项RAISE计划将专注于探测和控制有机色心电子和空穴的辐射复合，目标是实现在室温下工作的电驱动单光子源。由于色心是在碳纳米管半导体主机中直接产生的，可以用现有的半导体技术进行控制，因此电子和空穴可以被电子注入并引导到色心，在那里它们重新组合产生单个光子。这一假设得到了初步结果的有力支持，并将得到实验和理论努力的充分验证。这项工作具有潜在的开创性和技术变革意义。首先，有机色心为合成高质量的单光子源提供了一条化学途径。与通常作为天然缺陷出现的其他色心不同，有机色心可以以分子精度合成，从而为化学创新打开了巨大的机会。其次，有机色心在半导体中充当一个二能级系统，有效地提供了一个研究准粒子(如捕获缺陷中的激子和三子)的“桌面原子物理”实验室。第三，可以电驱动并在室温下工作的单光子源将成为量子信息科学的使能元素。单光子是理想的量子比特，因为它们表现出几乎无限的相干时间，并且可以远距离传播。然而，目前可用的固态单光子源存在可扩展性有限的问题。有机色心可以在分子精度的半导体中合成，为解决这一重大挑战开辟了可能性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will unite complementary expertise in quantum materials chemistry, theoretical physics, and quantum information science through an integrated collaboration involving two departments at the University of Maryland (Chemistry and Biochemistry, Electrical and Computer Engineering) and the UMD-NIST Joint Quantum Institute. It will also leverage ongoing collaborations with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) on photophysics and with IBM on electronics interfacing. The project will promote the progress of science by advancing fundamental understanding of excitons at trapping defects and realizing a single-photon source that operates at room temperature and can be driven electrically. In addition to advancing an emerging frontier across chemistry, physics, quantum information science, and engineering, the work in this project is anticipated to also have a positive societal impact. First, the work will contribute to the development of next-generation computing and information technology by building interfaces between electronics and single-photon optics. Second, the project will provide exciting opportunities to engage students and reach a broader community. Particularly, this collaborative project will provide unique training opportunities for the next-generation workforce in quantum information science and technology through close collaborations with IBM and LANL, which are expected to enrich graduate training in this quickly evolving interdisciplinary field. This RAISE project will focus on probing and controlling the radiative recombination of electrons and holes at organic color-centers with the goal of achieving electrically driven single-photon sources that work at room temperature. Because the color centers are directly created in a carbon nanotube semiconductor host that can be controlled with established semiconductor technologies, electrons and holes can be electrically injected and directed to the color center where they recombine to produce single photons. This hypothesis is strongly supported by preliminary results and will be fully verified by experimental and theoretical efforts. The work is potentially groundbreaking and technologically transformative. First, organic color-centers provide a chemical pathway to synthesize high-quality single-photon sources. Unlike other color centers, which typically occur as native defects, organic color-centers can be synthetically created with molecular precision, thus opening vast opportunities for chemical innovation. Second, organic color-centers act as a two-level system in a semiconductor, effectively providing a "desktop atomic physics" laboratory for studying quasi-particles such as excitons and trions in trapping defects. Third, single-photon sources that can be driven electrically and work at room temperature will be an enabling element for quantum information science. Single photons are ideal quantum bits because they exhibit nearly infinite coherence time and can propagate over long distances. However, currently available solid-state single-photon sources suffer from limited scalability. Organic color-centers can be synthetically created in a semiconductor with molecular precision, opening up the possibility to address this significant challenge.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.