Engineering and Tuning of Quantum Emitters in Few-Layer Hexagonal Boron Nitride

Quantum technologies require robust and photostable single photon emitters (SPEs). Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has recently emerged as a promising candidate to host bright and optically stable SPEs operating at room temperature. However, the emission wavelength of the fluorescent defects in hBN has, to date, been shown to be uncontrolled, with a widespread of zero phonon line (ZPL) energies spanning a broad spectral range (hundreds of nanometers), which hinders the potential development of hBN-based devices and applications. Here we demonstrate chemical vapor deposition growth of large-area, few-layer hBN films that host large quantities of SPEs: ∼100–200 per 10 × 10 μm2. More than 85% of the emitters have a ZPL at (580 ± 10) nm, a distribution that is an order of magnitude narrower than reported previously. Furthermore, we demonstrate tuning of the ZPL wavelength using ionic liquid devices over a spectral range of up to 15 nmthe largest obtained to date from any solid-state SPE. The fabricated devices illustrate the potential of hBN for the development of hybrid quantum nanophotonic and optoelectronic devices based on two-dimensional materials.