Ultrafast optical modulation of the fluorescence from a single-photon emitter in silicon carbide

The quest for the room-temperature optical transistor based on nonlinearities in single atoms or molecules is attracting a lot of attention. In this work, a single-photon emitter in cubic silicon carbide is verified that can operate as an optical switch at room temperature under pulsed green laser illumination with a near-infrared pulsed laser as the control gate. We demonstrated an ultrafast and reversible optical modulation with a high photoluminescence intensity suppression ratio up to 97.9% and a response time as short as 287.9 ± 5.7 ps. The current development provides insights for high-precision and ultrafast optical switches, with possibilities for integration with emerging electronic installations to realize more intelligent photoelectric integrated devices.