arXiv subjects

Emiliano Bonera

Publications and source records attributed to Emiliano Bonera.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Growth and characterization of planar hexagonal Ge on CdS

Hexagonal group-IV semiconductors have attracted increasing interest owing to their unconventional electronic and optical properties compared to the cubic diamond phase. However, the stabilization of these metastable allotropes in planar heterostructures remains a major challenge. In this work, we demonstrate the epitaxial growth of planar hexagonal germanium on non-basal $m$-plane CdS substrates by low-energy plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The role of growth temperature in the formation and stabilization of the hexagonal phase is investigated. X-ray diffraction, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and polarization-resolved Raman spectroscopy reveal the formation of epitaxial hexagonal germanium with the expected crystal symmetry. In particular, the Raman response exhibits the characteristic polarization selection rules of the E$_\text{2g}$ phonon mode of hexagonal Ge. Conversely, photoluminescence spectroscopy does not reveal any Ge-related emission feature. Combined transmission electron microscopy observations and atomistic modeling show that strain relaxation is governed by a limited set of dislocation mechanisms, which efficiently relieve most of the mismatch strain within a few nanometers from the interface and can involve localized cubic stacking insertions. At greater distances from the interface, the progressive loss of hexagonal order is increasingly dominated by stacking-fault disorder, particularly I3-type defects. These results establish CdS as a promising template for the planar stabilization of hexagonal Ge and provide insight into the defect mechanisms governing strain relaxation in metastable group-IV heterostructures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Formation of C-centers in Si-based systems by light ion irradiation

Atomic-scale crystal defects in Si are quantum-light sources offering tantalizing integration with existing photonic technologies. Yet, the controlled creation of near-infrared color centers for long- haul quantum communication and information still remains a challenge. In this work, we utilize light ions, such as H+ and He+, to gently generate quantum emitters in a crystalline Si matrix. Temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurements demonstrate the presence of optically-active defects, whose fluorescence matches the primary telecom window around 1550 nm. In addition, time-resolved investigations unveil long-lived excitonic states in the μs regime, thus confirming the formation of interstitial oxygen-carbon complexes, termed C-centers. Finally, we explored controlled ion irradiation strategies to seamlessly generate C-centers also in Ge-on-Si heterostructures, which offer an advanced technological platform for the future realization of integrated quantum photonics. This analysis, informed by practical color center synthesis and proof-of-principle experiments in epitaxial architectures, indicates intriguing prospects and profitable strategies to advance the burgeoning field of light-based quantum technologies.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Optical spin pumping in silicon

The generation of an out-of-equilibrium population of spin-polarized carriers is a keystone process for quantum technologies and spintronics alike. It can be achieved through the so-called optical spin orientation by exciting the material with circularly polarized light. Although this is an established technique for studying direct band-gap semiconductors, it has been proven limited in materials like Si that possess weak oscillator strengths for the optical transitions. In this study, we address the problem by presenting an all-optical analog of the spin pumping method. This involves the optical creation of a non-equilibrium spin population within an absorber, which subsequently transfers spin-polarized carriers to a nearby indirect gap semiconductor, resulting in polarized emission from the latter. By applying this concept to a Ge-on-Si heterostructure we observe luminescence from Si with an unrivaled polarization degree as high as 9%. The progressive etching of the absorbing layer, assisted by magneto-optic experiments, allows us to ascertain that the polarized emission is determined by effective spin injection aided by the carrier lifetime shortening due to extended defects. These findings can facilitate the use of highly promising spin-dependent phenomena of Si, whose optical exploitation has thus far been hampered by fundamental limitations associated with its peculiar electronic structure.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Optical control of the spin-Hall effect in a two-dimensional hole gas

Relativistic effects influence the motion of charged particles in solids by intertwining spin and momentum. The resulting phenomena exhibit rich and intriguing properties that can unveil radically new quantum devices. In this context, the two-dimensional hole gas formed in group IV heterostructures is a particularly promising platform, owning to a notable spin-orbit coupling. However, the exploitation of spin-momentum locking and precise manipulation of spin currents has remained elusive thus far. Here we use the modulation-doping technique to break inversion symmetry at novel Ge1-xSnx/Ge interfaces and explore spin-orbit phenomena in the emergent Rashba-coupled hole gases. Magneto-optical investigations demonstrate the unusual establishment of a staggered band alignment with carrier lifetime in the ns range. Optical spin orientation is then leveraged to directly inject spin-polarized currents in the Rashba-split 2D gas. Spin-to-charge conversion is shown to genuinely occur at the staggered gap through the inverse spin-Hall effect. This provides unprecedented access to low-order contributions of the spin-orbit Hamiltonian. Moreover, it leads to the startling demonstration that the spin Hall angle can be optically controlled by modifying the Rashba coupling through the photoexcitation density. Ge1-xSnx quantum wells thus offer innovative solutions and functionalities stemming from their unique spin-dependent properties and intriguing quantum phenomena at the crossroad between transport and photonic realms.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

THz Higher-Order Topological Photonics in Ge-on-Si Heterostructures

We design germanium-based higher-order topological cavities for terahertz applications by breaking the symmetry of a two-dimensional photonic crystal following the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model. Calculations demonstrate the parity inversion of the electric field in differently deformed unit cells. The interface between domains of opposite topology presents edge and corner modes. The former are chiral, locking light propagation to its helicity. The latter prove that Ge-based structures can be used as high-order topological photonic crystals. These findings can accelerate the development of Si-photonic components working in a spectral range of high technological interest.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2019

High-temperature droplet epitaxy of symmetric GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots

We introduce a high-temperature droplet epitaxy procedure, based on the control of the arsenization dynamics of nanoscale droplets of liquid Ga on GaAs(111)A surfaces. The use of high temperatures for the self-assembly of droplet epitaxy quantum dots solves major issues related to material defects, introduced during the droplet epitaxy fabrication process, which limited its use for single and entangled photon sources for quantum photonics applications. We identify the region in the parameter space which allows quantum dots to self-assemble with the desired emission wavelength and highly symmetric shape while maintaining a high optical quality. The role of the growth parameters during the droplet arsenization is discussed and modelled.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Metal Droplet Effects on the Composition of Ternary Nitrides

We investigate effects of metal droplets on the In incorporation in InGaN epilayers grown at low temperature (450 C) by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy. We find a strong reduction of the In incorporation when the surface is covered by metal droplets. The such reduction increases with the droplet density and the droplet surface coverage. We explain this phenomenonology via a model that considers droplet effects on the incorporation of In and Ga adatoms into the crystal by taking into account the combined effects of the higher mobility of In, with respect to Ga, and to the vapor-liquid-solid growth that takes place under the droplet by direct impingement of nitrogen. The proposed model is general and can be extended to describe the incorporation of adatoms during the growth of the material class of ternary compounds when droplets are present on the surface.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2019

Spectral broadening in self-assembled GaAs quantum dots with narrow size distribution

The control over the spectral broadening of an ensemble of emitters, mainly attributable to the size and shape dispersion and the homogenous broadening mechanisms, is crucial to several applications of quantum dots. We present a convenient self-assembly approach to deliver strain-free GaAs quantum dots with size distribution below 15%, due to the control of the growth parameters during the preliminary formation of the Ga droplets. This results in an ensemble photoluminescence linewidth of 19 meV at 14 K. The narrow emission band and the absence of a wetting layer promoting dot-dot coupling allow us to deconvolve the contribution of phonon broadening in the ensemble photoluminescence and study it in a wide temperature range.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

High-yield fabrication of entangled photon emitters for hybrid quantum networking using high-temperature droplet epitaxy

Several semiconductor quantum dot techniques have been investigated for the generation of entangled photon pairs. Among the other techniques, droplet epitaxy enables the control of the shape, size, density, and emission wavelength of the quantum emitters. However, the fraction of the entanglement-ready quantum dots that can be fabricated with this method is still limited to around 5%, and matching the energy of the entangled photons to atomic transitions (a promising route towards quantum networking) remains an outstanding challenge. Here, we overcome these obstacles by introducing a modified approach to droplet epitaxy on a high symmetry (111)A substrate, where the fundamental crystallization step is performed at a significantly higher temperature as compared to previous reports. Our method drastically improves the yield of entanglement-ready photon sources near the emission wavelength of interest, which can be as high as 95% due to the low values of fine structure splitting and radiative lifetime, together with the reduced exciton dephasing offered by the choice of GaAs/AlGaAs materials. The quantum dots are designed to emit in the operating spectral region of Rb-based slow-light media, providing a viable technology for quantum repeater stations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Droplet Controlled Growth Dynamics in Plasma-Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy of In(Ga)N Materials

We investigate the effect of the formation of metal droplets on the growth dynamics of InGaN by Plasma-Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy (PAMBE) at low temperatures (T = 450°C). We find that the presence of droplets on the growth surface strongly affects the adatom incorporation dynamics, making the growth rate a decreasing function of the overall metal flux impinging on the surface as soon as the metal dose exceeds the critical amount required for the nucleation of droplets. We explain this phenomenon via a model that takes into account droplet effects on the incorporation of metal adatoms into the crystal. A relevant role is played by the vapor-liquid-solid growth mode that takes place under the droplets due to nitrogen molecules directly impinging on the droplets.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗