Room-temperature near-infrared silicon carbide nanocrystalline emitters based on optically aligned spin defects

Journal Article · Mon Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4904807· OSTI ID:22395554

Muzha, A. ^[1]; Fuchs, F.; Simin, D.; Tarakina, N. V. ^[2]; Trupke, M. ^[3]; Soltamov, V. A.; Mokhov, E. N.; Baranov, P. G. ^[4]; Dyakonov, V. ^[5]; others, and

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1. Institute of Organic Chemistry, Julius-Maximilian University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg (Germany)
2. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Research Centre for Complex Material Systems (RCCM), Julius-Maximilian University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg (Germany)
3. Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, Atominstitut, TU Wien, 1020 Wien (Austria)
4. Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute, 194021 St. Petersburg (Russian Federation)
5. Experimental Physics VI, Julius-Maximilian University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg (Germany)

Bulk silicon carbide (SiC) is a very promising material system for bio-applications and quantum sensing. However, its optical activity lies beyond the near infrared spectral window for in-vivo imaging and fiber communications due to a large forbidden energy gap. Here, we report the fabrication of SiC nanocrystals and isolation of different nanocrystal fractions ranged from 600 nm down to 60 nm in size. The structural analysis reveals further fragmentation of the smallest nanocrystals into ca. 10-nm-size clusters of high crystalline quality, separated by amorphization areas. We use neutron irradiation to create silicon vacancies, demonstrating near infrared photoluminescence. Finally, we detect room-temperature spin resonances of these silicon vacancies hosted in SiC nanocrystals. This opens intriguing perspectives to use them not only as in-vivo luminescent markers but also as magnetic field and temperature sensors, allowing for monitoring various physical, chemical, and biological processes.

• OSTI ID: 22395554
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 24; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
AMORPHOUS STATE
CRYSTALS
ENERGY GAP
FABRICATION
FIBERS
IRRADIATION
MAGNETIC FIELDS
NANOSTRUCTURES
NEUTRON FLUENCE
OPTICAL ACTIVITY
PHOTOLUMINESCENCE
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
SENSORS
SILICON
SILICON CARBIDES
SPIN
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
VACANCIES