# Disorder-Engineered Hybrid Plasmonic Cavities for Emission Control of Defects in hBN

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method to control quantum emitters in hBN using plasmonic cavities, significantly boosting their emission intensity and performance.

## Contribution

A scalable, low-cost fabrication method for plasmonic nanocavities that dramatically enhances quantum emitter performance in hBN.

## Key findings

- Hybrid plasmonic nanocavities provide up to 100-fold photoluminescence enhancement in hBN quantum emitters.
- The method improves emitter uniformity and decay dynamics without requiring deterministic positioning.
- FDTD simulations confirm size-dependent control over cavity-emitter interactions.

## Abstract

Defect-based quantum emitters in hexagonal boron nitride
(hBN)
are promising building blocks for scalable quantum photonics due to
their stable single-photon emission at room temperature. However,
enhancing their emission intensity and controlling the decay dynamics
remain significant challenges. This study demonstrates a low-cost,
scalable fabrication approach to integrate plasmonic nanocavities
with defect-based quantum emitters in hBN nanoflakes. Using the thermal
dewetting process, we realize two distinct configurations: stochastic
Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) on hBN flakes and hybrid plasmonic nanocavities
formed by AgNPs on top of hBN flakes supported on gold/silicon dioxide
(Au/SiO2) substrates. While AgNPs on bare hBN yield up
to a 2-fold photoluminescence (PL) enhancement with reduced emitter
lifetimes, the hybrid nanocavity architecture provides a dramatic,
up to 100-fold PL enhancement and improved uniformity across multiple
emitters, all without requiring deterministic positioning. Finite-difference
time-domain (FDTD) simulations and time-resolved PL measurements confirm
size-dependent control over decay dynamics and cavity–emitter
interactions. Our versatile solution overcomes key quantum photonic
device development challenges, including material integration, emission
intensity optimization, and spectral multiplexity.