Generation of Optically Addressable Spin Centers in Hexagonal Boron Nitride by Proton Irradiation

The possibility of creating defects with spin-dependent fluorescence in a van der Waals material, namely, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), by irradiating the latter with high-energy protons ( E P = 15 MeV) is studied. The microphotoluminescence and electron paramagnetic resonance methods show that such irradiation leads to the emergence of boron vacancies in the negatively charged state ( centers), the ground triplet spin state ( S = 1) of which exhibits an optically induced population inversion.