Stark shifts observed in single-photon emitters in hexagonal boron nitride

Atomic defects, such as diamond NV-centers and SiC divacancies, have been widely studied as single-photon emitters, which are key ingredients of quantum information technology. Recently, two-dimensional (2D) materials are also found to host atomic defects that generate single-photons. Of particular interest is hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) which possess single-photon emitters operating at room temperature. In this talk, we show the Stark-shift induced energy control of single-photon emitters in h-BN¹⁾. By fabricating van der Waals heterostructures of h-BN with graphene gates, we observe linear Stark shifts as large as 7 meV induced by an out-of-plane electric field. We propose possible defect structures with out-of-plane dipoles, which are supported by theoretical calculations. We will also present other types of Stark shifts which have quadratic components. These Stark shifts are measured not only at low temperatures around 10 K, but also at room temperature. Our results demonstrating the on-demand energy control of atomic defects in h-BN show the potential of 2D-based single photon emitters for quantum information applications.



¹⁾ Noh, G.; Choi, D.; Kim, J.-H.; Im, D.-G.; Kim, Y.-H.; Seo, H.; Lee, J., Nano Lett. 2018, 18 (8), <a href="tel:4710-4715">4710-4715</a>.