Accounting for objective lens autofluorescence in quantum emitter measurements

TL;DR

This paper highlights the importance of accounting for objective lens autofluorescence in quantum emitter measurements, as it can mimic quantum signals and affect the accuracy of optical property studies.

Contribution

It demonstrates that microscope objective impurities can produce sharp linewidth emissions mistaken for quantum emitters, emphasizing the need for careful background consideration.

Findings

Objective lens autofluorescence can mimic quantum emitter signals.

Impurities in microscope glasses overlap with emission wavelengths of interest.

Proper background accounting is critical for accurate quantum emitter characterization.

Abstract

The rise of interest in the study of quantum emitters has recently prompted many research groups to construct their own confocal epifluorescence microscopy/spectroscopy instruments. The low light levels typically involved in quantum emitter measurements makes it critically important to account for any potential sources of background fluorescence by components used within such setups. In this report, we show that emission originating from various microscope objectives can possess elusive sharp linewidths that could potentially be mistaken for quantum emission. Impurities present in many glasses overlap in wavelength with single photon emission from several candidate emitter systems of current interest. A careful consideration of this system noise could be critical to exploratory work of the optical properties of materials such as transition metal dichalcogenides and hexagonal boron nitride.