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Enhancement of Single Photon Emitters in hexagonal boron nitride multilayered flakes Via Plasmonic Resonance in metallic nanostructures

ORAL

Abstract

Two dimensional (2D) materials such as hexagonal born nitride (hBN) have emerged as promising hosts of single photon sources (SPEs) which exhibits promising optical properties (high brightness, optically accessible spin states, high quantum efficiency, etc.), making them highly desirable elements for integrated quantum photonics [1]. In this study, we create SPEs in thin (thickness ≤ 10 nm) hBN flakes deposited on a Si/SiO2 substrate by using a high-temperature (1100 °C) annealing method under O2 flow and characterize their quantum properties using a home-built confocal fluorescence microscope. We demonstrate plasmonic enhancement of SPE properties by spin-coating of 100 nm Ag nanotubes on top of the hBN flake: a decrease of emission linewidth by 30% and quantum emitter lifetime decrease by 60% [2]. We expect > 2 order of magnitude enhancement of SPE fluorescence when integrating them to optical nanocavities. Such enhancement is supported using COMSOL numerical simulations where hBN flakes are integrated into a composite nanophotonic structure entailing plasmonic effects from silver nanocubes and the optical frequency resonance from the fabricated metallic nanocavity. These results open new doors for future applications of quantum 2D material nanoengineering for quantum sensing and communications. J. D. Caldwell, et al., Nat. Rev. Mat. 4, 552-567 (2019). M. Dowran, et al., under preparation.

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Presenters

  • Abdelghani Laraoui

    Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, dowran@unl.edu, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Authors

  • Abdelghani Laraoui

    Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, dowran@unl.edu, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

  • Mohammadjavad Dowran

    Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

  • Suvechhya Lamichhane

    Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

  • Adam D Erickson

    Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

  • Andrew Butler

    Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

  • Sy-Hwang Liou

    Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

  • Christos Argyropoulos

    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nebraska - Lincoln