Cathodoluminescence monitoring of quantum emitter activation in hexagonal boron nitride

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the use of cathodoluminescence to monitor and optimize the local activation of quantum emitters in hexagonal boron nitride, advancing the development of integrated quantum photonic devices.

Contribution

It introduces in situ cathodoluminescence as a tool to monitor and control quantum emitter activation in hBN, providing insights into the activation mechanism and maximum emitter density.

Findings

CL signal saturates at a specific surface dose

Number of active centers proportional to CL signal

Maximum quantum emitter density estimated

Abstract

The ability to locally activate or generate quantum emitters in two-dimensional materials is of major interest for the realization of integrated quantum photonic devices. In particular, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has recently been shown to allow a variety of techniques for obtaining quantum emitters at desired locations. Here, we use cathodoluminescence (CL) to monitor in situ the local activation of color centers by an electron beam in hBN. We observe that the CL signal saturates at a given surface dose, independently of the electron current density. Based on photoluminescence and photon correlations, we show that the number of photoactive color centers is proportional to the CL signal, and we estimate the maximum density of quantum emitters that can be generated by our technique. Our results provide insights about the activation mechanism and could help to optimize the controlled generation of single photon sources in hexagonal boron nitride.