The successful implementation of quantum photonic technologies in the forthcoming second quantum revolution relies on the development of efficient single-photon sources with tunable optical properties. Since the physical and chemical properties of any material depend on the distance between their constitutive atoms, the presence of homogeneous/inhomogeneous strain fields in materials can be used to modulate their properties, including the optical emission of single photon emitters.

In recent years, such sources have been demonstrated in semiconductor and dielectric Van der Waals two-dimensional materials which opens a plethora of possibilities for the exploitation of quantum technologies in ultra-compact devices. Moreover, one of the main advantages of ultra-strength atomically thin 2D semiconductors is that they can stand very high strain values up to 20% before plastic deformation in comparison with conventional bulk semiconductors (~1%). This impressive stretchability of 2D materials may revolutionize the field of elastic strain engineering (ESE) due to the unprecedented wide range tunability of their electronic and optical properties.

In our team, we are interested in the tuning of the optical emission energy of single photon emitters, as well as propagation of light in anisotropic two-dimensional materials, by introducing deliberate strain fields on-demand. For that, we employed customized micro-machined piezoelectric actuators enabling full control of the in-plane stress tensor in a variety of nanomaterials. 

 

Related references:

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1. Oliver Iff, Davide Tedeschi, Javier Martín-Sánchez*, Magdalena Moczała-Dusanowska, Sefaattin Tongay, Kentaro Yumigeta, Javier Taboada-Gutiérrez, Matteo Savaresi, Armando Rastelli, Pablo Alonso-González, Sven Höfling, Rinaldo Trotta*, Christian Schneider* "Strain-Tunable Single Photon Sources in WSe2 Monolayers"

Nano Letters 19(10), 6931, (2019).

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21. X. Yuan, F. Weyhausen-Brinkmann, J. Martín-Sánchez, G. Piredda, V. Krápek, Y. Huo, H. Huang, C. Schimpf, O.G. Schmidt, J. Edlinger, G. Bester, R. Trotta and A. Rastelli “Uniaxial stress flips the quantization axis of a quantum dot for integrated quantum photonics”

Nature Communications 9, 3058 (2018).

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3. D. Huber, M. Reindl, S.F. Covre da Silva, C. Schimpf, J. Martín-Sánchez, H. Huang, G. Piredda, J. Endlinger, A. Rastelli and R. Trotta “Strain-tunable GaAs quantum dot: an on-demand source of nearly-maximally entangled photon pairs”

Physical Review Letters 121, 033902 (2018).

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4. J. Martín-Sánchez, R. Trotta, A. Mariscal, R. Serna, G. Piredda, S. Stroj, J. Edlinger, C. Schimpf, J. Aberl, T. Lettner, J. Wildmann, H. Huang, X. Yuan, D. Ziss, J. Stangl and A. Rastelli “Strain-tuning of the optical properties of semiconductor nanomaterials by integration onto piezoelectric actuators”

Invited Review, Special issue on Piezotronics, Semiconductor Science and Technology, 33, 013001 (2018).

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5. J. Martín-Sánchez, A. Mariscal, M. DaLuca, A. Tarazaga Martín-Luengo, G. Gramse, R. Serna, A. Bonanni, R. Trotta, I. Zardo and A. Rastelli “Effects of Dielectric stoichiometry on the photoluminescence properties of encapsulated WSe2 monolayers”

Nano Research, 11, 1399 (2018).

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6. J. Martín-Sánchez, R. Trotta, G. Piredda, C. Schimpf, G. Trevisi, L. Seravalli, P. Frigeri, S. Stroj, T. Lettner, M. Reindl, J.S. Wildmann, J. Edingler and A. Rastelli, “Reversible Control of In-Plane Elastic Stress Tensor in Nanomembranes”

Advanced Optical Materials, 4(5), 682 (2016).

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7. R. Trotta, J. Martín-Sánchez, J.S. Wildmann, G. Piredda, M. Reindl, C. Schimpf, E. Zallo, S. Stroj, J. Edlinger and A. Rastelli, “Wavelength-tunable sources of entangled photons interfaced with atomic vapours”

Nature Communications, 7, 10375 (2016).

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8. R. Trotta, J. Martín-Sánchez, I. Daruka, C. Ortix and A. Rastelli, “Energy-tunable sources of entangled photons: a viable concept for Solid-State-Based Quantum Relays”

Physical Review Letters, 114, 150502 (2015).