Uncovering the morphological effects of high-energy Ga focused ion beam milling on hBN single-photon emitter fabrication.

Many techniques to fabricate complex nanostructures and quantum emitting defects in low dimensional materials for quantum information technologies rely on the patterning capabilities of focused ion beam (FIB) systems. In particular, the ability to pattern arrays of bright and stable room temperature single-photon emitters (SPEs) in 2D wide-bandgap insulator hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) via high-energy heavy-ion FIB allows for direct placement of SPEs without structured substrates or polymer-reliant lithography steps. However, the process parameters needed to create hBN SPEs with this technique are dependent on the growth method of the material chosen.

Deterministic Quantum Emitter Formation in Hexagonal Boron Nitride via Controlled Edge Creation.

Quantum emitters (QEs) in 2D hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are extremely bright and are stable at high temperature and under harsh chemical conditions. Because they reside within an atomically thin 2D material, these QEs have a unique potential to couple strongly to hybrid optoelectromechanical and quantum devices. However, this potential for coupling has been underexplored because of challenges in nanofabrication and patterning of hBN QEs.