Optical and spin properties of silicon vacancy centers created by proton irradiation in a 6H/15R silicon carbide heterostructure

Abstract

Optically active silicon vacancy defects (VSi) with an electron spin S=3/2 in a 6H-SiC/15R-SiC silicon carbide heterostructure grown by high-temperature sublimation technique have been studied. By means of low-temperature micro-photoluminescence (μ-PL) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) techniques, we demonstrate the potential to generate five disparate types of VSi centers with distinct spectral properties in the aforementioned heterostructure using proton irradiation with E=15 MeV. Wherein each type of VSi center is defined by its zero-phonon line (ZPL) and a distinct value of spin sublevel splitting in a zero magnetic field. As a result, we have demonstrated the scalability of the number of optically active spin centers that can be enclosed within a single crystalline matrix. Keywords: silicon carbide, heterostructures, photoluminescence, electron paramagnetic resonance, proton irradiation, spin centers.