Rational Control on Quantum Emitter Formation in Carbon-Doped Monolayer Hexagonal Boron Nitride

Single-photon emitters (SPEs) in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are promising candidates for quantum light generation. Despite this, techniques to control the formation of hBN SPEs down to the monolayer limit are yet to be demonstrated. Recent experimental and theoretical investigations have suggested that the visible wavelength single-photon emitters in hBN originate from carbon-related defects. Here, we demonstrate a simple strategy for controlling SPE creation during the chemical vapor deposition growth of monolayer hBN via regulating surface carbon concentration. By increasing the surface carbon concentration during hBN growth, we observe increases in carbon doping levels by 2.4-fold for B–C bonds and 1.6-fold for N–C bonds. For the same samples, we observe an increase in the SPE density from 0.13 to 0.30 emitters/μm2. Our simple method enables the reliable creation of hBN SPEs in monolayer samples for the first time, opening the door to advanced two-dimensional (2D) quantum state engineering.