A new study published in Nature Materials, an international multidisciplinary collaboration led by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), discovered a chemical structure behind defects in white graphene (hexagonal boron nitride, hBN), a large two-dimensional nanomaterial. , shows a promising platform for generating quantum light.
Systems that can emit a single photon stream, called quantum light sources, are critical hardware components for new technologies such as quantum computing, quantum internet, and quantum communication.
The ability to generate quantum light (a promising platform for generating quantum light) on-demand in many cases requires manipulating and controlling an atom or molecule, pushing the boundaries of modern manufacturing techniques, and making the development of these systems an interdisciplinary challenge.
Defects, as well as crystal imperfections, can act as a source of photons, and understanding their chemical structure is essential for them to function in a controlled manner. Single-photon hBN emitters have unique optical properties and are among the best of all solid material systems, however, for their practical use we need to understand the nature of the defect, and finally, we began to interpret it. myth, “said the UTS Ph.D. candidate. Noah Mendelson and the first author of the study.
“Unfortunately, not only can we combine powerful atom visualization techniques directly in quantum optics measurements, but it’s very challenging to obtain this structural information. Instead, we approach this problem from different angles by avoiding it. Incorporating dopants such as carbon, on hBN during growth and then directly comparing the optical properties of each, “he said.
To conduct this comprehensive study, a team led by Professor Igor Aharonovich, chief researcher of the UTS node at the ARC Center of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Materials (TMOS), turned to collaborators in Australia and around the world to deliver the field. necessary samples.
For the first time, researchers have been able to observe a direct link between the inclusion of carbon in the hBN network and quantum emissions. “Determining the structure of material defects is an even more challenging problem and requires experts from many fields. It is not something we could do within our group ourselves. Only by working with collaborators from around the world whose expertise is in” growing various materials which we can study this problem extensively. Through collaboration, we have finally been able to provide the clarification needed for the research community in general, ”said Professor Aharonovich.
“It’s even more exciting because the study was conducted thanks to a recent joint effort by collaborators Dipankar Chugh, Hark Hoe Tan, and Chennupati Jagadish of the TMOS node of the Australian National University,” he said. The researchers also identified another interesting aspect of their study, namely the faulty rotation of the drive, the basic quantum mechanical property, and a key element in the coding and retrieval of quantum information stored in the photon.
“Acknowledging these rotational defects opens up exciting opportunities for future quantum sensing applications, especially in atomic thin materials,” said Professor Aronovich.
The work brings to the fore a new field of research, 2D quantum spintronics, and lays the foundations for further study of hBN quantum light emission. The authors hope that their work will arouse greater interest in this area and facilitate a number of subsequent experiments, such as the generation of associated hBN photon pairs, a detailed study of the spin properties of the system, and theoretical confirmation of the defect structure.
“This is just the beginning and we expect our findings to accelerate the deployment of hBN quantum emitters for various emerging technologies,” he concluded. Mendelson.
