Engineering of single-photon emitters in hexagonal boron nitride [Invited]

Abstract

Quantum information technology requires bright and stable single-photon emitters (SPEs). As a promising single-photon source, SPEs in layered hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) have attracted much attention recently for their high brightness and excellent optical stability at room temperature. In this review, the physical mechanisms and the recent progress of the quantum emission of hBN are reviewed, and the various techniques to fabricate high-quality SPEs in hBN are summarized. The latest development and applications based on SPEs in hBN in emerging areas are discussed. This review focuses on the modulation of SPEs in hBN and discusses possible research directions for future device applications.

Solid-State Color Centers for Single-Photon Generation

“…The main strengths of hBN-based single-photon sources lie in their reliable emission from cryogenic temperatures up to 800 K, emission rates above 4 × 10 6 photons/s, strongly polarized emission, strain-tunable emission wavelength (Figure 5b), and Fourier-transform-limited emission at room temperature [169,[177][178][179][180]. The localized fabrication of emitters in hBN has been achieved so far with a variety of experimental methods [181], including thermal annealing [177], plasma treatment [182], femtosecond-pulsed laser [183,184], electron [177,185] and particle irradiations [186,187], and strain field engineering [179,188]. These results, in parallel with significant efforts to shed light on the structural nature of the discussed classes of emitters [189], indicate the readiness of the material for the scalable fabrication of arrays of quantum emitters.…”

Thickness Determination of Ultrathin 2D Materials Empowered by Machine Learning Algorithms

“…When thinned from a 3D bulk material to a few monolayers, the bandgap widens dramatically under quantum confinement effects, making it particularly attractive for logic device applications. [52][53][54][55] In the process of preparing devices such as ultrathin 2D field effect transistors, traditional dielectric layers such as SiO 2 will cause large hysteresis and low mobility, while using h-BN as gate dielectric can reduce the leakage current at the interface and slow down the dielectric breakdown. At the same time, h-BN can be prepared with a very uniform thickness and atomic-level flat surface, thereby significantly reducing the scattering effect; the extraordinary chemical stability and high thermal conductivity make it the best choice for 2D material packaging.…”

Fabrication, testing, and assembly of high-finesse optical fiber microcavity for molecule cavity QED experiment

“…In association with pre-cooled atoms, the constituent atoms are usually chosen to be easily cooled to the quantum degeneracy regime and are associated by photoassociation [18] , Feshbach resonance combined with stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STRAP) [19][20][21] , spin-motional coupling [22] , and optical Raman transition in optical tweezers [23] . Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) concentrates on the study of the interaction between light and matter, which plays a significant role in singlephoton generation [24,25] , quantum network [26] , and quantum computation [27] . By tailoring the spatial boundary condition, the optical cavity enhances the resonant transition of interacting matter (called the Purcell effect) and even induces the strong coupling between cavity mode and matter forming dressed states if the coupling strength overcomes the dissipation strength.…”