High-throughput identification of spin-photon interfaces in silicon

Color centers in host semiconductors are prime candidates for spin-photon interfaces that would enable numerous quantum applications. The discovery of an optimal spin-photon interface in silicon would move quantum information technologies towards a mature semiconductor technology. However, the space of possible charged defects in a host is very large, making the identification of promising quantum defects from experiments only extremely challenging. Here, we use high-throughput first principles computational screening to identify spin-photon interfaces among more than 1000 substitutional and interstitial charged defects in silicon. We evaluate the most promising defects by considering their optical properties, spin multiplicity, and formation energies. The use of a single-shot hybrid functional approach is critical in enabling the screening of a large number of defects with a reasonable accuracy in the calculated optical and electronic properties. We identify three new promising spin-photon interface as potential bright emitters in the telecom band: $\rm Ti_{i}^{+}$, $\rm Fe_{i}^{0}$, and $\rm Ru_{i}^{0}$. These candidates are excited through defect-bound excitons, stressing the importance of considering these type of defects in silicon if operations in the telecom band is targeted. Our work paves the way to further large scale computational screening for quantum defects in silicon and other hosts.