University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Photonic integration of divacancy color centers in silicon carbide and heterogeneous integration of lithium niobate on III-V/Si substrates

Misra, Yuvraj

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129637

Description

Title
Photonic integration of divacancy color centers in silicon carbide and heterogeneous integration of lithium niobate on III-V/Si substrates
Author(s)
Misra, Yuvraj
Issue Date
2025-05-07
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Anderson, Chris
Department of Study
Electrical & Computer Eng
Discipline
Electrical & Computer Engr
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
  • Quantum Photonics
  • Color Centers
  • Silicon Carbide
  • Solid-state Defects
  • Photonic Integrated Circuits
  • Lithium Niobate
  • Transceivers
  • Co-packaged Optics
Abstract
In this thesis, I present two independent projects carried out during my second year of the MS program. The first is titled "Photonic Integration of Divacancy Color Centers in Silicon Carbide", and the second focuses on the "Heterogeneous Integration of Lithium Niobate on III-V/Si Substrates". Chapter 1 covers the work on divacancy centers in silicon carbide (SiC), while Chapter 2 discusses the heterogeneous integration effort. In Chapter 1, I begin by laying out the motivation for using solid-state defects as promising candidates for quantum repeaters. An ideal quantum repeater requires a qubit that can interface with light and a robust quantum memory that’s well-coupled to it. Among the various systems explored, divacancy centers in SiC stand out due to their unique optical, electrical, and quantum properties. The bulk of this chapter focuses on unpacking each of these aspects. That said, most of the described work is based on divacancy centers in bulk SiC, and an understanding of how they perform in nanostructured environments is limited. Our short-term goal is to develop high-quality factor, low mode volume, and noise-resilient nanophotonic devices on a silicon carbide-on-insulator platform. This direction is motivated by the potential of photonic integrated color centers to make quantum communication more scalable and efficient. Towards the end of the chapter, I describe the fabrication progress we've made in the past few months toward this goal. Chapter 2 shifts focus to our efforts on integrating thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) with III-V/Si substrates. TFLN on insulator (typically on silicon dioxide) is emerging as a versatile photonics platform, especially for data communication. Lithium niobate offers low-loss propagation, a high electro-optic coefficient, and supports efficient frequency comb generation - making it a strong candidate for modulators and comb sources. When combined with III-V gain materials, this platform opens up the possibility for compact, low-cost transceivers, with promising applications in commercial data centers.
Graduation Semester
2025-05
Type of Resource
Thesis
Handle URL
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129637
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2025 Yuvraj Misra

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