Light sources for Cryogenic Communication Based on Nanomechanical Modulation of Valley Alignment in GaSb/AlGaSb nano-structures

The project aims at developing a new class of light sources where electro-mechanical strain modulation at the nanoscale using surface acoustic waves enables efficient and high-speed light modulation with low dissipative losses and ability to operate at temperatures near absolute zero (mk to few K range). These sources are needed to build information links from low-temperature superconducting logic to room temperature electronics and photonics systems. Moreover, the platform could offer a more efficient way of connecting large numbers of signals to cryogenic quantum-technology processors, offering a fully solid-state implementation solution compatible with silicon photonics The underlying science is based on using strain, applied by a surface acoustic wave to drive tailored GaSb/AlGaSb nano-structures from being indirect-bandgap (such that electrons and holes cannot recombine to emit light) to direct-gap (where recombination is efficient).