Quantum dynamics of point defects in hexagonal boron nitride with variable temperature

Defects in solids strongly affect its optical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties. In particular, point defects in semiconductors have garnered great interest because they can serve as single-photon sources, which are the building blocks for photonic quantum technologies. Recently, point defects in hexagonal boron nitride have emerged as excellent candidates for single-photon sources.
Here, we systematically investigate the quantum dynamics of optically driven point defects in h-BN over a wide of temperature (4K-300K). We perform theoretical and experimental studies to quantify the role of dephasing on the intensity correlation of the scattered photons. We measure the linewidth of zero-phonon line as a function of temperature. Furthermore, we also measure the linewidth at each temperature as a function of pump intensity and estimate saturation count rate. Our results are consistent with saturation count rate extracted from measurement of peak intensity of ZPL as a function of pump intensity. These results provide new insight into the electronic structure of the emitters and the role of surrounding on its evolution.