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

“智能社会”的实现将需要显示器和量子计算技术的进步。这类技术的例子包括微型颜色可调像素和量子态可以精确控制的系统的制造，这两种技术都可以通过在半导体主体中捕获稀土元素来解决。稀土元素可以放置在不同的环境中，并保持其大部分原始的原子性质，包括发射波长和自旋态。一般来说，稀土离子被加入到无源的绝缘材料中。在这个项目中，一组研究人员将研究制造成二极管、微腔和微盘等结构的稀土掺杂半导体的性能。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烈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实现新的功能，如控制自旋和操纵用于量子信息处理和固态显示器的光发射。通过一个以本科生为主的机构和大费城地区的两所研究型大学之间的合作，该项目还将培训几名来自代表性不足群体的本科生和研究生，以便将来在量子信息和显示行业就业。技术说明。之前已经在掺Eu的GaN中演示了单一的电控颜色可调LED，这是基于操纵Eu3+离子的发射状态。然而，缺陷特有的能量转移途径的几个细节仍然没有完全被理解。对这一过程的深入了解对于优化这类LED以及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子器件中，自旋信息是否可以从注入的载流子转移到稀土离子，反之亦然。对光学跃迁线宽、辐射寿命和自旋相干时间的测量将建立用于量子信息协议的稀土掺杂半导体的基线电势。掺Eu的GaN和掺Er的GaN具有效率高、发射线宽窄等优点，有望成为单量子发射器件的候选材料。我们的目标是通过控制稀薄掺杂和利用光子结构提高稀土离子的辐射速率来检测和处理单个稀土掺杂。总体而言，全颜色可调LED的开发将实现单接触RGB微型LED，这将提高固态照明技术的性能，并使GaN基有源像素显示成为可能。对于量子计算应用，基于稀土离子的强健量子态与成熟的GaN和GaAs合成以及纳米制造技术相结合，可以实现可扩展量子光电子器件的快速发展。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。

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.