One‐Step Creation of Quantum Emitter Arrays in Hexagonal Boron Nitride by Local Stress Application

AbstractHexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has recently emerged as a promising platform for hosting quantum emitters (QEs) in atomically thin solid‐state materials, as it operates at room temperature, possess exceptional brightness, and the two‐dimensional nature of hBN enables versatile integration with various photonic elements compared to bulk hosts. However, high‐yield fabrication of site‐specific QEs at designated locations still requires complicated pre‐ or post‐processes. In this work, QEs are created in defect‐free exfoliated hBN through localized stress application in series. Indentation is performed at target positions within the hBN flakes of various thickness without any subsequent post‐treatment, resulting in quantum emission from the majority of the indented regions. This technique yields 73% of QE generation per predefined indented site at optimized conditions, highly exceeding the 30–40% yield of previously reported top‐down approaches. In addition, the zero phonon line wavelengths of stress‐induced QEs are focused at 595 ± 18.9 nm, which implies that the emitters originate from the same family of defects. The facile one‐step, on‐demand, and high‐yield fabrication of QE arrays opens the possibility to realize scalable quantum light sources integrated on chip‐scale quantum photonic circuits.