Surface defects in carbon-doped hexagonal boron nitride for negative-contrast direct laser writing

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Litvinov, Dmitrii, Gavriliuc, Virgil, Grzeszczyk, Magdalena, Vaklinova, Kristina, Watanabe, Kenji, Taniguchi, Takashi, Novoselov, Kostya S., Koperski, Maciej
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866918358013706240
author Litvinov, Dmitrii
Gavriliuc, Virgil
Grzeszczyk, Magdalena
Vaklinova, Kristina
Watanabe, Kenji
Taniguchi, Takashi
Novoselov, Kostya S.
Koperski, Maciej
author_facet Litvinov, Dmitrii
Gavriliuc, Virgil
Grzeszczyk, Magdalena
Vaklinova, Kristina
Watanabe, Kenji
Taniguchi, Takashi
Novoselov, Kostya S.
Koperski, Maciej
contents Radiative defects in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are active in a broad spectral range from deep ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths. Representatives of these defects act as bright single photon sources, spin-1 systems, and multiproperty atomic-scale sensors. They are predominantly investigated in bulk hBN films, where defects are decoupled from surface and interfacial effects. Here, we demonstrate a novel class of surface defects optically active in the green/yellow visible spectral range, which exhibit photophysical properties distinct from their bulk counterparts. High-power resonant laser illumination quenched the emission from the ensemble of such defects, which was attributed to a light-driven structural reconfiguration. The quenched defects were found to recover their emissive capabilities via a thermal cycling process, revealing an activation energy of 24.5 meV for the structural transition. Alternatively, permanent quenching of the defects was triggered by surface chemistry, involving lithiation-enabled attachment of functional groups. These mechanisms were utilized to realize negative-contrast direct laser writing, designing arbitrary geometric emissive patterns on demand in a microscopic configuration. The surface-active radiative centers in hBN appear particularly attractive for exploring environmental sensitivity, surface science, and coupling to photonic structures or electronic devices by taking unique advantage of the two-dimensional characteristics of the host lattice.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_13657
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Surface defects in carbon-doped hexagonal boron nitride for negative-contrast direct laser writing
Litvinov, Dmitrii
Gavriliuc, Virgil
Grzeszczyk, Magdalena
Vaklinova, Kristina
Watanabe, Kenji
Taniguchi, Takashi
Novoselov, Kostya S.
Koperski, Maciej
Optics
Materials Science
Other Condensed Matter
Applied Physics
Radiative defects in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are active in a broad spectral range from deep ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths. Representatives of these defects act as bright single photon sources, spin-1 systems, and multiproperty atomic-scale sensors. They are predominantly investigated in bulk hBN films, where defects are decoupled from surface and interfacial effects. Here, we demonstrate a novel class of surface defects optically active in the green/yellow visible spectral range, which exhibit photophysical properties distinct from their bulk counterparts. High-power resonant laser illumination quenched the emission from the ensemble of such defects, which was attributed to a light-driven structural reconfiguration. The quenched defects were found to recover their emissive capabilities via a thermal cycling process, revealing an activation energy of 24.5 meV for the structural transition. Alternatively, permanent quenching of the defects was triggered by surface chemistry, involving lithiation-enabled attachment of functional groups. These mechanisms were utilized to realize negative-contrast direct laser writing, designing arbitrary geometric emissive patterns on demand in a microscopic configuration. The surface-active radiative centers in hBN appear particularly attractive for exploring environmental sensitivity, surface science, and coupling to photonic structures or electronic devices by taking unique advantage of the two-dimensional characteristics of the host lattice.
title Surface defects in carbon-doped hexagonal boron nitride for negative-contrast direct laser writing
topic Optics
Materials Science
Other Condensed Matter
Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.13657