arXiv · 2511.11428
Photon correlation Fourier spectroscopy of a B center in hBN
Abstract
The potential of solid-state quantum emitters for applications critically depends on several key figures of merit. One of the most important is the quantum coherence of the emitted single photons, which can be compromised by fast dephasing and spectral diffusion. In hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), blue-emitting color centers (or B centers) are seen as favorable in this regard, in the light of prior studies mainly based on resonant excitation. Yet, their coherence properties in the more accessible regime of non-resonant excitation (or photoluminescence) has not been extensively characterized. Here, we investigate the coherence and spectral diffusion of the photoluminescence from a B center in the continuous wave regime using photon correlation Fourier spectroscopy. We determine that the emission lineshape consists in a homogeneous contribution, whose linewidth increases with the laser power, and which is broadened by spectral diffusion at a timescale of 10 to 100 microseconds. At low power and short time, the emission line is only a factor ~2 above the Fourier limit, while at long times, the inhomogeneous linewidth increases up to more than a gigahertz. Our work deepens the understanding of decoherence processes of this preeminent family of quantum emitters in hBN.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Aymeric Delteil, Stéphanie Buil, Jean-Pierre Hermier. 2025-11-14. Photon correlation Fourier spectroscopy of a B center in hBN. https://doi.org/10.1103/ffp8-lgmp
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.