Alfer University

Alfer University is a scientific and educational institution whose main activities lie in the fields of physics and nanotechnology, bioinformatics, nanoBIOtechnologies and space physics.

History

2024: Development of a unique material for quantum communications

Alferov University has developed the first high-quality silicon-based indium nitride crystals in Russia, which can be used in the creation of quantum telecommunications devices and photonic integrated circuits. This was announced at the beginning of March 2024 in the Competence Center of the NTI "Photonics."

According to Vladislav Gridchin, a researcher at the Laboratory of Epitaxial Nanotechnology at Alfer University, almost ideal sodium nitride crystals were synthesized on cheap silicon, and not on expensive substrates, thus, the cost of synthesis decreased several times.

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In this [2024] year, we were the first in Russia to learn how to synthesize almost defect-free crystals of indium nitride on cheap silicon. This is a very difficult technological task, since silicon is not suitable for the growth of such crystals. However, it is cheaper to use silicon, which means that the synthesis of indium nitride crystals is carried out not on expensive substrates, usually used to create infrared lasers, but on available silicon. This is the most common material on earth, "Gridchin said in a conversation with TASS.

He also explained that the practical use of indium nitride is limited due to the high concentration of defects and impurities in the formed crystals, which is why this semiconductor has a band gap (a physical parameter that determines the main properties of indium nitride, for example, the wavelength of light emitted by the crystal) of the order of 1.8-2.1 eV. Scientists of the St. Petersburg National Research Academic University. J. I. Alferov RAS, which is part of the consortium of the Competence Center of the NTI "Photonik," managed to approach the fundamental width of the prohibited zone of this material, Gridchin said.

He added that in the future, technology will help create effective lasers for transmitting information over fiber-optic communication lines.^[1]

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