Tuning colour centres at a twisted hexagonal boron nitride interface

Su, Cong1,2,3; Zhang, Fang1,2,4,5; Kahn, Salman1,2; Shevitski, Brian1,2,3,6; Jiang, Jingwei1,2; Dai, Chunhui1,2,3; Ungar, Alex1,2,3; Park, Ji-Hoon7; Watanabe, Kenji8; Taniguchi, Takashi9; Kong, Jing7; Tang, Zikang8; Zhang, Wenqing4; Wang, Feng1,2,3; Crommie, Michael1,2,3; Louie, Steven G.1,2; Aloni, Shaul6; Zettl, Alex1,2,3

2022-07-01

10.1038/s41563-022-01303-4

NATURE MATERIALS   Impact Factor & Quartile

1476-1122

1476-4660

["The colour centre platform holds promise for quantum technologies, and hexagonal boron nitride has attracted attention due to the high brightness and stability, optically addressable spin states and wide wavelength coverage discovered in its emitters. However, its application is hindered by the typically random defect distribution and complex mesoscopic environment. Here, employing cathodoluminescence, we demonstrate on-demand activation and control of colour centre emission at the twisted interface of two hexagonal boron nitride flakes. Further, we show that colour centre emission brightness can be enhanced by two orders of magnitude by tuning the twist angle. Additionally, by applying an external voltage, nearly 100% brightness modulation is achieved. Our ab initio GW and GW plus Bethe-Salpeter equation calculations suggest that the emission is correlated to nitrogen vacancies and that a twist-induced moire potential facilitates electron-hole recombination. This mechanism is further exploited to draw nanoscale colour centre patterns using electron beams.","Colour centre emission from hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) holds promise for quantum technologies but activation and tuning are challenging. Here, the authors show twist-angle emission brightness tuning and external voltage brightness modulation at the twisted interface of hBN flakes."]

SCI ; EI

English

NI Journal Papers

Others

US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, within the sp2-Bonded Materials Program["DE-AC02-05-CH11231","KC2207"] ; US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division[DE-AC02-05-CH11231] ; US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, within the van der Waals Bonded Materials Program["DE-AC02-05-CH11231","KCWF16"] ; National Science Foundation[DMR-1807322] ; Elemental Strategy Initiative by the MEXT, Japan[JPMXP0112101001] ; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI["19H05790","JP20H00354"] ; Guangdong Innovation Research Team Project[2017ZT07C062] ; Guangdong Provincial Key-Lab programme[2019B030301001] ; Shenzhen Municipal Key-Lab programme[ZDSYS20190902092905285] ; US Army Research Office Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative[W911NF-18-1-0431] ; US Army Research Office through the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies at MIT[W911NF-18-2-0048]

Chemistry ; Materials Science ; Physics

Chemistry, Physical ; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary ; Physics, Applied ; Physics, Condensed Matter

WOS:000825183300002

NATURE PORTFOLIO

20222912386830

Boron nitride ; Calculations ; Color ; Color centers ; III-V semiconductors ; Nitrides ; Quantum theory ; Tuning

Semiconducting Materials:712.1 ; Light/Optics:741.1 ; Inorganic Compounds:804.2 ; Mathematics:921 ; Quantum Theory; Quantum Mechanics:931.4 ; Crystalline Solids:933.1

MATERIALS SCIENCE

Web of Science

1.Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Phys, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
2.Lawrence Berkeley Natl Lab, Mat Sci Div, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
3.Univ Calif Berkeley, Kavli Energy NanoSci Inst, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
4.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Dept Phys, Shenzhen, Peoples R China
5.Univ Macau, Inst Appl Phys & Mat Engn, Macau, Peoples R China
6.Lawrence Berkeley Natl Lab, Mol Foundry, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
7.MIT, Elect Engn & Comp Sci, Cambridge, MA USA
8.Natl Inst Mat Sci, Res Ctr Funct Mat, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
9.Natl Inst Mat Sci, Int Ctr Mat Nanoarchitecton, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

Su, Cong,Zhang, Fang,Kahn, Salman,et al. Tuning colour centres at a twisted hexagonal boron nitride interface[J]. NATURE MATERIALS,2022,21:896-902.

Su, Cong.,Zhang, Fang.,Kahn, Salman.,Shevitski, Brian.,Jiang, Jingwei.,...&Zettl, Alex.(2022).Tuning colour centres at a twisted hexagonal boron nitride interface.NATURE MATERIALS,21,896-902.

Su, Cong,et al."Tuning colour centres at a twisted hexagonal boron nitride interface".NATURE MATERIALS 21(2022):896-902.