Single-photon emitters inside bubbles formed at homointerfaces between hexagonal boron nitride layers

There are a few materials where single-photon emitters, which are vital elements of quantum communications, can be created and function at room temperature. One of these materials is hexagonal boron nitride. In this study, mechanically assembled homostructures made of two boron nitride sheets are investigated. At the interface between these sheets, microbubbles are formed by adsorbed residues of water molecules and carbon compounds. After high-temperature annealing of the samples, stable room-temperature emitters of single photons in the visible and near infrared bands are formed in the areas of these microbubbles. The observed phenomenon opens the way to the controlled creation of stable emitters using the assembly of homostructures.