NAMBE 2025 Session WME2-SaM: Emerging Materials and Growth Technologies

In this presentation I will discuss recent developments in the epitaxy of ultra-pure ZnO as a platform for emerging emitters. Using clean homoepitaxial layers we have investigated a range of extrinsic defects as well as implanted ions inside ZnO as the host lattice. I will provide an outlook on the current status of developing method for in-situ incorporation of the most promising varieties of defects, as well as approaches to improving their quantum lifetimes through dilution of the nuclear spin bath. If time permits, I will also discuss other novel oxides which can be grown using similar techniques to very high purity.

As the scope of both technological demand and known material systems continues to expand, the need for greater variety and control of constituent sources has begun to strain the capabilities of conventional deposition techniques.Here, we demonstrate a new thin-film deposition technique, Thermal Laser Epitaxy (TLE), which combines IR laser heating of elemental sources with direct CO₂ laser heating of substrates.This approach allows for the evaporation of practically all elements of the periodic table in the same setup, while maintaining even extremely corrosive process gas environments up to pressures as high as 10^-1 mbar, and at extremely high substrate temperatures. Here, I will introduce and discuss the advantages of TLE for epitaxy, with a focus on applications for emerging emitter materials across a wide range of materials families including oxides, nitrides, and other more exotic opportunities not accessible by conventional MBE approaches.