Imaging Strain-Induced Quantum Emitters

Color centers in diamond produce long lived quantum emitters [1]. An alternative approach to creating quantum emitters, as suggested by [2], involves using an array of silica nanopillars to induce strain in a two dimensional Van der Waals material, creating quantum dot-like quantum emitters at each point of strain. This approach is appealing because the locations of the quantum emitters can be controlled and their properties are tunable. Our goal is to electrically characterize these strain-induced quantum emitters using the scanning probe microscope (SPM) technique described in [3]. The cooled SPM tip will be used as a moveable gate to spatially resolve rings of conductance around each point of strain due to the Coulomb-blockade and provide information about the number of electrons at each point.

[1] L Childress et al., Science 312, 281 (2006).
[2] C. Palacios-Berraquero et al., Nat Commun 8, 1 (2017).
[3] A. C. Bleszynski-Jayich et al., Phys. Rev. B 77, 245327 (2008).