title: Robust Multicolor Single Photon Emission from Point Defects in Hexagonal Boron Nitride.
abstract: Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is an emerging two-dimensional material for quantum photonics owing to its large bandgap and hyperbolic properties. Here we report two approaches for engineering quantum emitters in hBN multilayers using either electron beam irradiation or annealing and characterize their photophysical properties. The defects exhibit a broad range of multicolor room-temperature single photon emissions across the visible and the near-infrared spectral ranges, narrow line widths of sub-10 nm at room temperature, and a short excited-state lifetime, and high brightness. We show that the emitters can be categorized into two general groups, but most likely possess similar crystallographic structure. Remarkably, the emitters are extremely robust and withstand aggressive annealing treatments in oxidizing and reducing environments. Our results constitute a step toward deterministic engineering of single emitters in 2D materials and hold great promise for the use of defects in boron nitride as sources for quantum information processing and nanophotonics.
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney , Ultimo, New South Wales 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Toan Trong
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney , Ultimo, New South Wales 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Elbadawi
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney , Ultimo, New South Wales 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Totonjian
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney , Ultimo, New South Wales 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Charlene J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lobo
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Grosso
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
authors.forename: Hyowon
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
authors.forename: Dirk R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Englund
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney , Ultimo, New South Wales 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney , Ultimo, New South Wales 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Aharonovich
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney , Ultimo, New South Wales 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Milos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Toth
keywords: density functional theory; electron beam irradiation; hexagonal boron nitride; point defects; robust; single photon source