Quantum emitters in silicon: Purcell-enhanced lifetime modulation as a probe of local refractive index changes

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2504.14342v2
• Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2025 13:53:51 GMT
• Title: Quantum emitters in silicon: Purcell-enhanced lifetime modulation as a probe of local refractive index changes
• Authors: Yevhenii Morozov, Anatoliy Lapchuk,
• Abstract summary: Quantum emitters embedded in silicon photonic cavities offer a powerful and scalable platform for refractive index sensing at the nanoscale.<n>We propose and theoretically analyze a novel sensing mechanism based on Purcell-enhanced modulation of the emitter's spontaneous emission lifetime.<n>We show that long-lived emitters such as T-centers in silicon provide a unique advantage, allowing sub-secondnano lifetime shifts to be resolved.
• Score: 0.0
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: Quantum emitters embedded in silicon photonic cavities offer a powerful and scalable platform for label-free refractive index sensing at the nanoscale. We propose and theoretically analyze a novel sensing mechanism based on Purcell-enhanced modulation of the emitter's spontaneous emission lifetime, enabling detection of refractive index changes via time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC). In contrast to traditional resonance-shift sensors, our approach exploits the lifetime sensitivity to variations in the local density of optical states (LDOS), providing an intensity-independent, spectrally unresolvable, and CMOS-compatible sensing modality. We derive analytical expressions linking refractive index perturbations to relative lifetime shifts and identify an optimal off-resonance operation regime, where the lifetime response becomes linear and maximally sensitive to small perturbations. Parametric evaluation of the analytical expressions shows that, for moderate-quality photonic cavities (Q = 10^5 to 10^7), this method enables refractive index detection limits as low as 10^{-9} RIU, competitive with or even outperforming state-of-the-art plasmonic and microresonator sensors, yet requiring significantly simpler instrumentation. Furthermore, we show that long-lived emitters such as T-centers in silicon provide a unique advantage, allowing sub-nanosecond lifetime shifts to be resolved with standard TCSPC systems. Although room-temperature operation of quantum emitters in silicon has yet to be demonstrated, our results lay the theoretical foundation for scalable, room-temperature, quantum-enabled sensing of refractive index changes, eliminating the need for spectral resolution and cryogenic infrastructure.

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