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

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 Si...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2014-12, Vol.105 (24)
Main Authors: Muzha, A., Fuchs, F., Tarakina, N. V., Simin, D., Trupke, M., Soltamov, V. A., Mokhov, E. N., Baranov, P. G., Dyakonov, V., Krueger, A., Astakhov, G. V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amorphization
AMORPHOUS STATE
Applied physics
Biological activity
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
Crystal defects
CRYSTALS
Emitters
ENERGY GAP
FABRICATION
FIBERS
Infrared windows
IRRADIATION
MAGNETIC FIELDS
Magnetic resonance
Nanocrystals
NANOSTRUCTURES
Near infrared radiation
NEUTRON FLUENCE
Neutron irradiation
OPTICAL ACTIVITY
Organic chemistry
PHOTOLUMINESCENCE
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
Room temperature
SENSORS
SILICON
Silicon carbide
SILICON CARBIDES
SPIN
Structural analysis
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
Temperature sensors
VACANCIES
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4904807