Color center in β -Ga2O3 emitting at the telecom range

Abstract

Transition metal (TM) ions incorporated into a host from a wide bandgap semiconductor are recognized as a promising system for quantum technologies with enormous potential. In this work, we report on a TM color center in β-Ga2O3 with physical properties attractive for quantum information applications. The center is found to emit at 1.316 μm and exhibits weak coupling to phonons, with optically addressable higher-lying excited states, beneficial for single-photon emission within the telecom range (O-band). Using magneto-photoluminescence (PL) complemented by time-resolved PL measurements, we identify the monitored emission to be internal 1E→3A2 spin-forbidden transitions of a 3d8 TM ion with a spin-triplet ground state—a possible candidate for a spin qubit. We tentatively attribute this color center to a complex involving a sixfold coordinated Cu3+ ion.