MOONSHOT aims at developing a novel single-photon emitting material that operates in the telecommunication wavelength range (1300-1600 nm, O- and C-bands) and is compliant with the “Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment” (RoHS). The main motivation for such objective is that single-photon sources based on epitaxial quantum dots (QDs) are now a mature technology available on the market that is outperforming laser cooled atoms or spontaneous parametric down conversion via nonlinear crystals. Yet, three major issues afflict epitaxial QDs: first, the epitaxial approach presents drawbacks in terms of limited throughput and CMOS incompatibility. Secondly, often the emission wavelength of epitaxial QDs for single-photon generation is limited to less than 1000 nm. Finally, single-photon sources based on this class of QDs require low-temperature operation (T ≈ 4K). Colloidal QDs present similar light-emission properties to their epitaxial counterpart and they can tackle most of the drawbacks of the latter. For example, solution processing enables controlled placement of QDs on-chip as well as very high throughput preparation via wet-chemistry approaches. In addition, colloidal QDs have the potential for operation beyond cryogenic temperatures. Nonetheless, state-of-the-art colloidal QDs with shortwave infrared emission (SWIR, 750-1600 nm) contain either lead or mercury, which are severely restricted by the RoHS. Indium arsenide (InAs) QDs are among the few SWIR-emitting RoHS-compliant materials; yet only a limited number of synthetic approaches lead to emissive QDs. MOONSHOT will focus on developing highly emissive and blinking-free InAs colloidal QDs based on a synthetic route employing commercially available precursors. MOONSHOT adopts a high-risk strategy to realize a new technology in the field of quantum light sources with an immediate outcome in the form of optimized single-photon SWIR emitting QDs.
Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR)
Colloidal Indium Arsenide quantum dots as short-wave infrared single photon emitters
Abstract
Project information
Acronym
MOONSHOT
Start date
01/06/2024
End date
30/11/2025
Role
Coordinator
Funds
European
People involved
Francesco Di Stasio
Photonic Nanomaterials
Budget
Total budget: 150.000,00€
Total contribution: 150.000,00€
CUP J13C22000410001, ammesso a finanziamento dal MUR con Decreto Direttoriale di concessione delle agevolazioni n. 1050 del 23 giugno 2022, in risposta all’Avviso N. 3277 del 30/12/2021 che dà attuazione all’Investimento 1.5 – Creazione e rafforzamento di Ecosistemi dell’Innovazione”, costruzione di “leader territoriali di R&S” – nell’ambito della Missione 4 “Istruzione e ricerca”, Componente 2 “Dalla ricerca all’impresa” del Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza.