Electrical manipulation of telecom color centers in silicon

Silicon color centers have recently emerged as promising candidates for commercial quantum technology, yet their interaction with electric fields has yet to be investigated. In this paper, we demonstrate electrical manipulation of telecom silicon color centers by implementing novel lateral electrical diodes with an integrated G center ensemble in a commercial silicon on insulator wafer. The ensemble optical response is characterized under application of a reverse-biased DC electric field, observing both 100% modulation of fluorescence signal, and wavelength redshift of approximately 1.24 ± 0.08 GHz/V above a threshold voltage. Finally, we use G center fluorescence to directly image the electric field distribution within the devices, obtaining insight into the spatial and voltage-dependent variation of the junction depletion region and the associated mediating effects on the ensemble. Strong correlation between emitter-field coupling and generated photocurrent is observed. Our demonstration enables electrical control and stabilization of semiconductor quantum emitters. Si color centers offer promising quantum technology applications, but their interaction with electric fields has not been explored. Here the authors report electrical manipulation of telecom emitters in Si by fabricating lateral diodes with an integrated ensemble of G centers in commercial Si on insulator wafer.