Yertay Zhiyenbayev

EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley

Technical Report No. UCB/

May 1, 2025

Silicon photonics presents a scalable and technologically integrable pathway for advancing quantum technologies. Silicon’s mature fabrication infrastructure and low interface complexity make it an ideal platform for realizing large-scale quantum architectures. Recently, individual atomic-scale defects in silicon that emit single photons in the telecom band have been isolated. These defects behave like artificial atoms, enabling controlled and deterministic single-photon emission. This dissertation focuses on the creation of point defects in silicon that emit single photons within the telecom wavelength range, employing carbon implantation and rapid thermal annealing. It demonstrates the first all-silicon quantum light source realized through the integration of a single emissive defect into a silicon nanophotonic cavity. This work shows a 30-fold enhancement in photoluminescence, near-unity atom–cavity coupling efficiency, and an 8-fold increase in emission rate from the quantum emitter.

Advisors: Boubacar Kanté

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BibTeX citation:

@phdthesis{Zhiyenbayev:31887,
    Author= {Zhiyenbayev, Yertay},
    Title= {Quantum Emitters in Silicon for Scalable Quantum Photonics},
    School= {EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley},
    Year= {2025},
    Number= {UCB/},
    Abstract= {Silicon photonics presents a scalable and technologically integrable pathway for advancing quantum technologies. Silicon’s mature fabrication infrastructure and low interface complexity make it an ideal platform for realizing large-scale quantum architectures. Recently, individual atomic-scale defects in silicon that emit single photons in the telecom band have been isolated. These defects behave like artificial atoms, enabling controlled and deterministic single-photon emission.
This dissertation focuses on the creation of point defects in silicon that emit single photons within the telecom wavelength range, employing carbon implantation and rapid thermal annealing. It demonstrates the first all-silicon quantum light source realized through the integration of a single emissive defect into a silicon nanophotonic cavity. This work shows a 30-fold enhancement in photoluminescence, near-unity atom–cavity coupling efficiency, and an 8-fold increase in emission rate from the quantum emitter.},
}

EndNote citation:

%0 Thesis
%A Zhiyenbayev, Yertay 
%T Quantum Emitters in Silicon for Scalable Quantum Photonics
%I EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley
%D 2025
%8 May 1
%@ UCB/
%F Zhiyenbayev:31887