Electroluminescence from isolated defects in zinc oxide, towards electrically triggered single photon sources at room temperature

Abstract

Single photon sources are required for a wide range of applications in quantum information science, quantum cryptography and quantum communications. However, so far majority of room temperature emitters are only excited optically, which limits their proper integration into scalable devices. In this work, we overcome this limitation and present room temperature electrically triggered light emission from localized defects in zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles and thin films. The devices emit at the red spectral range and show excellent rectifying behavior. The emission is stable over an extensive period of time, providing an important prerequisite for practical devices. Our results open up possibilities to build new ZnO based quantum integrated devices that incorporate solid-state single photon sources for quantum information technologies.