Prospects and challenges of quantum emitters in 2D materials

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent progress and challenges in developing quantum emitters in 2D materials like hexagonal boron nitride and TMDs, emphasizing their potential for scalable quantum light sources.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances, engineering efforts, and future prospects for quantum emitters in 2D materials, highlighting integration and scalability.

Findings

High brightness and ambient operation of 2D quantum emitters

Progress in deterministic creation and electrical excitation

Challenges in scalability and integration

Abstract

The search for an ideal single-photon source has generated significant interest in discovering novel emitters in materials as well as developing new manipulation techniques to gain better control over the emitters' properties. Quantum emitters in atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials have proven very attractive with high brightness, operation under ambient conditions, and the ability to be integrated with a wide range of electronic and photonic platforms. This perspective highlights some of the recent advances in quantum light generation from 2D materials, focusing on hexagonal boron nitride and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). Efforts in engineering and deterministically creating arrays of quantum emitters in 2D materials, their electrical excitation, and their integration with photonic devices are discussed. Lastly, we address some of the challenges the field is facing and the near-term efforts to tackle them. We provide an outlook towards efficient and scalable quantum light generation from 2D materials towards controllable and addressable on-chip quantum sources.