Control of Elementary Excitations by Acoustic Fields

Acoustic control of optically active defect centers

Color centers in solids are promising candidates for applications in quantum technologies. Because of their atomic-like optical emission, characterized by sharp lines and non-classical statistics, they can be used as single photons sources. Moreover, their long spin coherence times and spin-dependent optical transitions make them very attractive for spintronic applications. Finally, they are appropriate for sensing since their electronic energy levels are very sensitive to perturbations like electric and magnetic fields, temperature fluctuations, and lattice deformations.

In this project, we aim at the control and manipulation of the optoelectronic properties of defect centers in solids using acoustic fields. To this end, surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are an interesting approach because their strain and piezoelectric fields oscillating with frequencies in the range of hundreds of MHz can efficiently couple to defect centers placed close to the surface of the vibrating substrate. Similar to an external radiofrequency field, SAWs can modulate the emission energies of the light centers and induce resonant transitions between their spin sublevels.

In this project, we focus on light centers embedded in materials suitable for epitaxial heterostructures. This includes shallow centers in GaAs, silicon vacancies in SiC, and defect centers in two-dimensional materials such as hexagonal boron nitride.

Selected publications:

5	Autor	A. Hernández-Mínguez , A. V. Poshakinskiy , M. Hollenbach , P. V. Santos , G. V. Astakhov
	Titel	Anisotropic Spin-Acoustic Resonance in Silicon Carbide at Room Temperature
	Source	Phys. Rev. Lett. , 125 , 107702 ( 2020 )
DOI : 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.107702 \| Download: PDF \| 3183 Cite : Bibtex RIS @article{ author = { A. Hernández-Mínguez and A. V. Poshakinskiy and M. Hollenbach and P. V. Santos and G. V. Astakhov }, title = { Anisotropic Spin-Acoustic Resonance in Silicon Carbide at Room Temperature }, journal = { Physical Review Letters }, volume = { 125 }, year = { 2020 }, pages = { 107702 } } A. Hernández-Mínguez, A. V. Poshakinskiy, M. Hollenbach, P. V. Santos, and G. V. Astakhov TY - JOUR AU - A. Hernández-Mínguez AU - A. V. Poshakinskiy AU - M. Hollenbach AU - P. V. Santos AU - G. V. Astakhov TI - Anisotropic Spin-Acoustic Resonance in Silicon Carbide at Room Temperature JF - Physical Review Letters JA - Phys. Rev. Lett. J1 - PRL VL - 125 SP - 107702 PY - 2020/09/03

4	Autor	S. Lazic , A. Espinha , S. Pinilla Yanguas , C. Gibaja , F. Zamora , P. Ares , M. Chhowalla , W. S. Paz , J. J. Palacios Burgos , A. Hernández-Mínguez , P. V. Santos , H. P. van der Meulen
	Titel	Dynamically tuned non-classical light emission from atomic defects in hexagonal boron nitride
	Source	Commun. Phys. , 2 , 113 ( 2019 )
DOI : 10.1038/s42005-019-0217-6 \| 3138 Cite : Bibtex RIS @article{ author = { S. Lazic and A. Espinha and S. Pinilla Yanguas and C. Gibaja and F. Zamora and P. Ares and M. Chhowalla and W. S. Paz and J. J. Palacios Burgos and A. Hernández-Mínguez and P. V. Santos and H. P. van der Meulen }, title = { Dynamically tuned non-classical light emission from atomic defects in hexagonal boron nitride }, journal = { Communications Physics }, volume = { 2 }, year = { 2019 }, pages = { 113 } } S. Lazic, A. Espinha, S. Pinilla Yanguas, C. Gibaja, F. Zamora, P. Ares, M. Chhowalla, W. S. Paz, J. J. Palacios Burgos, A. Hernández-Mínguez, P. V. Santos, and H. P. van der Meulen TY - JOUR AU - S. Lazic AU - A. Espinha AU - S. Pinilla Yanguas AU - C. Gibaja AU - F. Zamora AU - P. Ares AU - M. Chhowalla AU - W. S. Paz AU - J. J. Palacios Burgos AU - A. Hernández-Mínguez AU - P. V. Santos AU - H. P. van der Meulen TI - Dynamically tuned non-classical light emission from atomic defects in hexagonal boron nitride JF - Communications Physics JA - Commun. Phys. J1 - VL - 2 SP - 113 PY - 2019/09/17

3	Autor	F. Iikawa , A. Hernández-Mínguez , I. Aharonovich , S. Nakhaie , Y.-T. Liou , J. M. J. Lopes , P. V. Santos
	Titel	Acoustically modulated optical emission of hexagonal boron nitride layers
	Source	Appl. Phys. Lett. , 114 , 171104 ( 2019 )
DOI : 10.1063/1.5093299 \| Download: PDF \| 3087 Cite : Bibtex RIS @article{ author = { F. Iikawa and A. Hernández-Mínguez and I. Aharonovich and S. Nakhaie and Y.-T. Liou and J. M. J. Lopes and P. V. Santos }, title = { Acoustically modulated optical emission of hexagonal boron nitride layers }, journal = { Applied Physics Letters }, volume = { 114 }, year = { 2019 }, pages = { 171104 } } F. Iikawa, A. Hernández-Mínguez, I. Aharonovich, S. Nakhaie, Y.-T. Liou, J. M. J. Lopes, and P. V. Santos TY - JOUR AU - F. Iikawa AU - A. Hernández-Mínguez AU - I. Aharonovich AU - S. Nakhaie AU - Y.-T. Liou AU - J. M. J. Lopes AU - P. V. Santos TI - Acoustically modulated optical emission of hexagonal boron nitride layers JF - Applied Physics Letters JA - Appl. Phys. Lett. J1 - APL VL - 114 SP - 171104 PY - 2019/05/02

2	Autor	M. Yuan , A. Hernández-Mínguez , K. Biermann , P. V. Santos
	Titel	Tunneling blockade and single-photon emission in GaAs double quantum wells
	Source	Phys. Rev. B , 98 , 155311 ( 2018 )
DOI : 10.1103/PhysRevB.98.155311 \| Download: PDF \| 3044 Cite : Bibtex RIS @article{ author = { M. Yuan and A. Hernández-Mínguez and K. Biermann and P. V. Santos }, title = { Tunneling blockade and single-photon emission in GaAs double quantum wells }, journal = { Physical Review B: Solid State }, volume = { 98 }, year = { 2018 }, pages = { 155311 } } M. Yuan, A. Hernández-Mínguez, K. Biermann, and P. V. Santos TY - JOUR AU - M. Yuan AU - A. Hernández-Mínguez AU - K. Biermann AU - P. V. Santos TI - Tunneling blockade and single-photon emission in GaAs double quantum wells JF - Physical Review B: Solid State JA - Phys. Rev. B J1 - VL - 98 SP - 155311 PY - 2018/10/12

1	Autor	A. Hernández-Mínguez , J. Lähnemann , S. Nakhaie , J. M. J. Lopes , P. V. Santos
	Titel	Luminescent Defects in a Few-Layer h-BN Film Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy
	Source	Phys. Rev. Appl. , 10 , 044031 ( 2018 )
DOI : 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.10.044031 \| arxiv: 1902.08528 \| 3037 Cite : Bibtex RIS @article{ author = { A. Hernández-Mínguez and J. Lähnemann and S. Nakhaie and J. M. J. Lopes and P. V. Santos }, title = { Luminescent Defects in a Few-Layer h-BN Film Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy }, journal = { Physical Review Applied }, volume = { 10 }, year = { 2018 }, pages = { 044031 } } A. Hernández-Mínguez, J. Lähnemann, S. Nakhaie, J. M. J. Lopes, and P. V. Santos TY - JOUR AU - A. Hernández-Mínguez AU - J. Lähnemann AU - S. Nakhaie AU - J. M. J. Lopes AU - P. V. Santos TI - Luminescent Defects in a Few-Layer h-BN Film Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy JF - Physical Review Applied JA - Phys. Rev. Appl. J1 - VL - 10 SP - 044031 PY - 2018/10/11