Depth Control of Room-Temperature Quantum Emitters in Gallium Nitride

Abstract

Bright quantum emitters are key components for quantum communication systems. Radiative point defects in gallium nitride (GaN) are promising candidates for room-temperature single-photon emission, operating from the visible to the telecom O-band. Despite their potential, their integration into photonic structures has remained limited in the literature, with experimental photon extraction efficiencies far below simulated predictions. To identify the origin of this limitation, we investigate visible and near-infrared quantum emitters in GaN epilayers grown on $c$-plane sapphire substrates exhibiting narrow linewidths ($\sim$4 nm), high photon count rates ($ > $2 MHz), and strong antibunching, reaching $g^{(2)}(0)$ values as low as 0.06 at room temperature. We find that these emitters are located near the GaN/substrate interface, explaining their limited coupling to optical modes. Building on this observation, we show that the insertion of a thin low-temperature GaN interlayer enables the formation of quantum emitters at arbitrary depths with sub-60 nm accuracy, independent of the substrate. The intentionally introduced emitters retain optical properties comparable to naturally occurring ones, including narrow linewidths ($\sim$6 nm), saturation count rates exceeding 1.5 MHz, high Debye-Waller factors (0.69-0.98), and strong antibunching. The resulting epilayer fully coalesces within less than 250 nm ensuring compatibility with GaN-based cavity fabrication and enabling emitter placement within intrinsic regions of p-i-n diode architectures. These results mark a decisive step toward efficient emitter-cavity coupling, enabling the realization of cavity-enhanced quantum emission in GaN.