Transferable room-temperature single-photon emitters in hexagonal boron nitride grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract

The solid-state single-photon source is the core of applications such as quantum cryptography, quantum sensing, and quantum computing. Recently, the point defects in two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) have become excellent candidates for next-generation single-photon sources due to their chemical and physical stability and ultra-high brightness at room temperature. The 2D layered structure of h-BN allows the single-photon emitters (SPEs) in it to have high photon extraction efficiency and be integrated into photonic circuits easily. However, most of the SPEs found in h-BN flakes are present at the edges or wrinkles. Here, we report on the room-temperature SPEs in h-BN film grown by molecular beam epitaxy followed by a high-temperature post-annealing process and their deterministic transfer. Using the all-dry viscoelastic stamping method, the h-BN film grown on the Al2O3 substrate can be transferred to other substrates. The transferred SPEs are discretely distributed among the continuous h-BN flakes, and the SPE density is as high as ∼0.17 μm−2. After identification, the determined SPE can be deterministically transferred to other structures by the all-dry transfer method. The deterministic transfer of SPEs distributed on the h-BN flakes promises the potential to integrate SPEs into many quantum technology applications.