Disorder-engineered hybrid plasmonic cavities for emission control of defects in hBN

Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.5c02063

Defect-based quantum emitters in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are promising building blocks for scalable quantum photonics due to their stable single-photon emission at room temperature. However, enhancing their emission intensity and controlling the decay dynamics remain significant challenges. This study demonstrates a low-cost, scalable fabrication approach to integrate plasmonic nanocavities with defect-based quantum emitters in hBN nanoflakes. Using the thermal dewetting process, we realize two distinct configurations: stochastic Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) on hBN flakes and hybrid plasmonic nanocavities formed by AgNPs on top of hBN flakes supported on gold/silicon dioxide (Au/SiO2) substrates. While AgNPs on bare hBN yield up to a 2-fold photoluminescence (PL) enhancement with reduced emitter lifetimes, the hybrid nanocavity architecture provides a dramatic, up to 100-fold PL enhancement and improved uniformity across multiple emitters, all without requiring deterministic positioning. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations and time-resolved PL measurements confirm size-dependent control over decay dynamics and cavity–emitter interactions. Our versatile solution overcomes key quantum photonic device development challenges, including material integration, emission intensity optimization, and spectral multiplexity.