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HL: Fachverband Halbleiterphysik

HL 11: Focus Session: Quantum Emitters in 3D Semiconductors

HL 11.5: Hauptvortrag

Montag, 9. März 2026, 17:15–17:45, POT/0251

Advances in materials processing for quantum sensing — •Adam Gali — HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Budapest, Hungary — Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary

For more than a decade, our first-principles studies have suggested that neutral divacancy defects in silicon carbide (SiC) could provide such an alternative. These defects can be excited in the infrared and emit in the second biological window, making them intrinsically attractive for biological sensing. The next step is to engineer the SiC surface and introduce shallow divacancy species suitable for nanoscale sensing. Under ambient conditions, however, SiC readily oxidizes and forms a high density of optical and paramagnetic defects at the interface, necessitating new materials-processing strategies. We have shown with first-principles calculations that the ODMR contrast of divacancy centers can be enhanced through strain engineering, a prediction verified experimentally by our collaborators. Additionally, we proposed replacing the native oxide with carbon-chain terminations to prevent oxidation. Our simulations revealed that such surfaces serve as ideal hosts for shallow divacancy quantum sensors capable of detecting external paramagnetic species [1]. This theoretical proposal has since been experimentally demonstrated by our collaborators, paving the way toward non-invasive, room-temperature quantum sensor devices.

[1] Non-invasive bioinert room-temperature quantum sensor from silicon carbide qubits, Pei Li et al., Nature Materials, 24, 1913 (2025).

Keywords: silicon carbide; quantum sensing; quantum bit; point defect; optically detected magnetic resonance