RUI: Next Generation Rare Earth Based Light-Emitters for Solid-State Display & Quantum Information Technology Applications

“智能社会”的实现需要显示和量子计算技术的进步。此类技术的例子包括微尺度颜色可调像素和量子态可精确控制系统的制造，这两者都可以通过在半导体宿主中“捕获”稀土（RE）元素来解决。稀土元素可以放置在各种环境中，并保留其大部分原始原子性质，包括发射波长和自旋态。一般来说，稀土离子被掺入被动绝缘材料中。在这个项目中，一组研究人员将研究稀土掺杂半导体的性能，这些半导体被制造成二极管、微腔和微盘等结构。该团队将探索利用稀土离子与半导体主体内其他缺陷之间的强相互作用来操纵稀土离子的新方法。总体而言，该项目将作为新一代稀土掺杂半导体器件的基础，这些器件利用量子力学效应来实现新功能，如自旋控制和光发射的操纵，用于量子信息处理和固态显示。通过在大费城地区以本科为主的机构和两所研究型大学之间的合作，该项目还将培训来自代表性不足群体的几名本科生和研究生，以便未来在量子信息和显示行业就业。技术描述。单个电控颜色可调led先前已经在铕掺杂的GaN中得到了证明，这是基于操纵Eu3+离子发射的状态。然而，缺陷特异性能量转移途径的一些细节仍未完全了解。深入了解这一过程对于优化这种led和在其他稀土掺杂系统中实现受控原子发射至关重要。该团队还将探索在新型光电器件中，自旋信息是否可以从注入的载流子转移到RE离子，反之亦然。光学跃迁线宽、辐射寿命和自旋相干时间的测量将为量子信息协议建立稀土掺杂半导体的基线潜力。铕掺杂GaN和铒掺杂GaAs具有高效率和窄发射线宽的优点，是单量子发射体的理想候选材料。我们的目标是通过控制稀释掺杂和利用光子结构提高稀土离子的辐射率来检测和定位单个稀土掺杂物。总体而言，具有全颜色可调性的led的发展将允许实现单触点RGB微型led，这将提高固态照明技术的性能，并使基于gan的有源像素显示成为可能。对于量子计算应用，基于RE离子的鲁棒量子态与GaN和GaAs合成和纳米制造技术的成熟相结合，可以使可扩展量子光电器件快速发展。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The realization of a "smart society" will require advancements in display and quantum computation technologies. Examples of such technologies include microscale color-tunable pixels and the fabrication of systems whose quantum states can be precisely controlled, both of which can be addressed by "trapping" rare earth (RE) elements in a semiconducting host. RE elements can be placed into various environments and retain most of their original atom-like properties, including emission wavelengths and spin states. Generally, RE ions are incorporated in passive, insulating materials. In this project, a team of researchers will study the properties of RE-doped semiconductors fabricated into structures such as diodes, microcavities, and microdisks. The team will explore new ways to manipulate the RE ions by utilizing the strong interaction between the RE ions and other defects within the semiconductor hosts. Overall, this project will serve as the basis for a new generation of RE-doped semiconductor devices that harness quantum mechanical effects to achieve new functionalities such as the control of spins and the manipulation of light emission for quantum information processing and solid-state displays. Through a collaboration between a predominantly undergraduate institution and two research universities in the greater Philadelphia area, this project will also train several undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups for future employment in the quantum information and display industries.Technical description.Single electrically controlled color-tunable LEDs have been previously demonstrated in Eu-doped GaN, which is based on manipulating the state from which the Eu3+ ions emit. However, several details of the defect-specific energy-transfer pathways are still not fully understood. A deeper understanding of this process is crucial for optimizing such LEDs and for realizing controlled atomic emission in other RE-doped systems. The team will also explore whether spin information can be transferred from injected carriers to the RE ions and vice-versa in novel optoelectronic devices. Measurements of optical transition linewidths, radiative lifetimes, and spin coherence times will establish the baseline potential of RE-doped semiconductors for quantum information protocols. With their high efficiency and narrow emission linewidth, Eu-doped GaN and Er-doped GaAs are promising candidates as single quantum emitters. We aim to detect and address individual RE dopants by controlled dilute doping and enhancing the RE ions' radiative rates using photonic structures. Overall, the development of LEDs with full color-tunability will allow for the realization of single-contact RGB micro-LEDs, which will improve the performance of solid-state lighting technology and enable GaN-based active pixel displays. For quantum computation applications, the combination of robust quantum states based on RE ions with the maturity of GaN and GaAs synthesis and nanofabrication technology can enable the rapid development of scalable quantum optoelectronic devices.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.