Now, writing in Nature Photonics, Michael Dobinson and colleagues demonstrate electroluminescent emission from T centres in two separate nanophotonic devices: one device generates light emission from T centre ensembles, and the second device electrically generates single photons and initializes the spin state from individual T centres (pictured) (Nat. Photon. 19, 1132–1137; 2025).
The first device consists of a tapered nanophotonic single-mode waveguide hosting a T centre ensemble with an integrated lateral p–i–n junction diode providing electrical injection; by applying sufficient forward bias, electrons and holes are injected into the intrinsic region of the diode, where they are captured by the T centres, creating bound-exciton exc…
Now, writing in Nature Photonics, Michael Dobinson and colleagues demonstrate electroluminescent emission from T centres in two separate nanophotonic devices: one device generates light emission from T centre ensembles, and the second device electrically generates single photons and initializes the spin state from individual T centres (pictured) (Nat. Photon. 19, 1132–1137; 2025).
The first device consists of a tapered nanophotonic single-mode waveguide hosting a T centre ensemble with an integrated lateral p–i–n junction diode providing electrical injection; by applying sufficient forward bias, electrons and holes are injected into the intrinsic region of the diode, where they are captured by the T centres, creating bound-exciton excited states that can recombine generating photons in the zero-phonon line or in the phonon sideband. Two grating couplers (GCs) designed to couple out either the zero-phonon line photons or the phonon sideband photons terminate the cavity. Besides output coupling, these GCs also filter out undesired light emission from other silicon defect species. Coupled to an external optical fibre and circulator, this device operates as an electrically driven O-band light emitter that is promising for on-chip optical computing and optical communications applications.
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Martinez, A. Electrical control of silicon T centres. Nat. Mater. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02415-3
Published: 07 November 2025
Version of record: 07 November 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02415-3