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Quantum Emission from Defects in Single-Crystalline Hexagonal Boron Nitride

Toan Trong Tran1, Cameron Zachreson1, Amanuel Michael Berhane1, Kerem Bray1, Russell Guy Sandstrom1, Lu Hua Li2, Takashi Taniguchi3, Kenji Watanabe3, Igor Aharonovich1,* et al.

Milos Toth1,†

  • 1School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, New South Wales 2007, Australia
  • 2Institute of Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus, Victoria 3216, Australia
  • 3National Institute for Materials Science, Namiki 1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan

  • *Corresponding author. Igor.Aharonovich@uts.edu.au
  • †Corresponding author. Milos.Toth@uts.edu.au
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Phys. Rev. Applied 5, 034005 – Published 10 March, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.5.034005

Abstract

Bulk hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is a highly nonlinear natural hyperbolic material that attracts major attention in modern nanophotonics applications. However, studies of its optical properties in the visible part of the spectrum and quantum emitters hosted by bulk hBN have not been reported to date. In this work, we study the emission properties of hBN crystals in the red spectral range using sub-band-gap optical excitation. Quantum emission from defects is observed at room temperature and characterized in detail. Our results advance the use of hBN in quantum nanophotonics technologies and enhance our fundamental understanding of its optical properties.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 5, 034005– Published 10 March, 2016
  • Received 31 July 2015
Article part of CHORUS

© 2016 American Physical Society

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