Tunable single-photon emitters in 2D materials

Nanophotonics. 2024 Jun 3;13(19):3615-3629. doi: 10.1515/nanoph-2024-0050. eCollection 2024 Aug.

Abstract

Single-photon emitters (SPEs) hold the key to many quantum technologies including quantum computing. In particular, developing a scalable array of identical SPEs can play an important role in preparing single photons - crucial resources for computation - at a high rate, allowing to improve the computational capacity. Recently, different types of SPEs have been found in various 2D materials. Towards realizing scalable SPE arrays in 2D materials for quantum computation, it is required to develop tunable SPEs that can produce identical photons by precisely controlling emission properties. Here, we present a brief review of the recent progress on various tuning methods in different 2D materials. Firstly, we discuss the operation principle of different 2D SPEs along with their unique characteristics. Secondly, we introduce various dynamic strain engineering methods for tuning the emission wavelengths in 2D SPEs. We also present several electric field-induced wavelength tuning methods for 2D SPEs. Lastly, we discuss the outlook of dynamically tunable 2D SPEs towards scalable 2D SPE arrays for realizing practical quantum photonics applications.

Keywords: 2D materials; Stark effect; single-photon emitters; strain engineering; wavelength tunability.