Scalable microcavity-coupled emitters in hexagonal boron nitride

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates scalable integration of hexagonal boron nitride emitters with silicon nitride microcavities, enabling enhanced single-photon emission for quantum photonic circuits.

Contribution

It introduces a novel 'pick and place' method to integrate hBN emitters with microcavities, achieving Purcell enhancement and cavity-mediated out-coupling.

Findings

Deterministic activation of SPEs in hBN at microdisk circumference

Observation of Purcell enhancement of emission

Successful cavity-mediated out-coupling of single photons

Abstract

Scalable integration of bright emitters in quantum photonic structures is an important step in the broader quest to generate and manipulate single photons via compact solid-state devices. Unfortunately, implementations relying on material platforms that also serve as the emitter host often suffer from a trade-off between the desired emitter properties and the photonic system practicality and performance. Here, we demonstrate 'pick and place' integration of a Silicon Nitride microdisk optical resonator with a bright emitter host in the form of 20nm thick hexagonal boron nitride (hBN).The film folds around the microdisk maximizing contact to ultimately form a composite hBN/Si3N4 structure. The local strain that develops in the hBN film at the resonator circumference deterministically activates a low density of SPEs within the whispering gallery mode volume of the microdisk. These conditions allow us to demonstrate cavity-mediated out-coupling and Purcell enhancement of emission from hBN color centers through the microdisk cavity modes. Our results pave the route toward the development of scalable quantum photonic circuits with independent emitter/resonator optimization for active and passive functionalities.