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arXiv · 1805.08589

Effects of high energy electron irradiation on quantum emitters in hexagonal boron nitride

Hanh Ngoc My Duong·Minh Anh Phan Nguyen·Mehran Kianinia·Hiroshi Abe·Takeshi Ohshima·Kenji Watanabe·Takashi Taniguchi·James H. Edgar·Igor Aharonovich·Milos Toth
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Abstract

Hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN) mono and multilayers are promising hosts for room temperature single photon emitters (SPEs). In this work we explore high energy (~ MeV) electron irradiation as a means to generate stable SPEs in hBN. We investigate four types of exfoliated hBN flakes - namely, high purity multilayers, isotopically pure hBN, carbon rich hBN multilayers and monolayered material - and find that electron irradiation increases emitter concentrations dramatically in all samples. Furthermore, the engineered emitters are located throughout hBN flakes (not only at flake edges or grain boundaries), and do not require activation by high temperature annealing of the host material after electron exposure. Our results provide important insights into controlled formation of hBN SPEs and may aid in identification of their crystallographic origin.

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Hanh Ngoc My Duong, Minh Anh Phan Nguyen, Mehran Kianinia, Hiroshi Abe, Takeshi Ohshima, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, James H. Edgar, Igor Aharonovich, Milos Toth. 2018-05-10. Effects of high energy electron irradiation on quantum emitters in hexagonal boron nitride. https://arxiv.org/abs/1805.08589

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