Simon Fraser University

Purpose

Recent decades have witnessed phenomenal growth in the quantum technology sector, with breakthrough demonstrations in sensing, communication, and computing. In the past five years, silicon’s “T-center,” an atomic-scale defect, has emerged as a promising quantum hardware platform due to its telecom optical emission, compatibility with silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates, and long-lived electronic and nuclear spins. Nevertheless, defects in SOI currently suffer from inefficient fabrication, poor spin and optical properties, and open questions regarding their coupling to material strain. In collaboration with the Quantum and Nanotechnologies Research Centre at NRC, the Project will overcome these challenges by 1) developing magnetic quantum sensing techniques and advanced fabrication protocols for high-quality T centers in SOI and 2) characterizing T-center strain coupling. The resulting techniques and materials will pave the way for transformative quantum devices and will contribute to the growing quantum industry and training of highly qualified scientists in Canada.