Near-infrared Quantum Emitters from Strained Moire Excitons in van der Waals Heterostructures

Abstract

Quantum confinement in low-dimensional materials has been explored for single photon emitters (SPEs). However, a significant challenge remains in operating SPEs in nearinfrared (NIR), particularly at telecom wavelengths (1.3 - 1.5 micrometer), which would enable enhanced low-loss optical network protocols. In this proposal, we aim to advance our understanding of low-dimensional quantum emitters by investigating strained van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures. We propose that local strain engineering can lead to quantum confinement of moire excitons in the twisted bilayer heterostructures and facilitate quantum emission in the NIR range. In our proposed system, spatially indirect interlayer excitons (ILEs) exhibit NIR emission via type-II band alignment (i.e., MoSe2-WSe2 at 0.92 micrometer, MoS2-WSe2 at 1.24 micrometer and InSe-WSe2 at 1.77 micrometer), and precise stacking and straining may further enhance confinement of interlayer exciton at the strained moiré potential traps, allowing for single photon emission at telecom wavelengths (Figure 1).Our collaborative team, UCI, KU and AFRL, has multi-disciplinary expertise in strain engineering, quantum nano-optics and two-dimensional (2D) material synthesis. Moreover, we have recently published a collaborative paper on deterministic SPEs via strained transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayer. Our collaborative efforts will pave the way for realizing quantum confinement in 2D vdW heterostructures, and further usher in a new class of SPEs with the potential for deterministic positioning and tunable emission at telecom wavelengths.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Jan 04, 2023
Source ID
FA23862114129

Entities

People

  • SungWoo Nam

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • United States Air Force
  • University of California, Irvine

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene
  • Quantum Computing