Position and Frequency Control of Strain-Induced Quantum Emitters in WSe2 Monolayers

Nano Lett. 2019 Oct 9;19(10):7534-7539. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b03421. Epub 2019 Sep 10.

Abstract

Future scalable and integrated quantum photonic systems require deterministic generation and control of multiple quantum emitters. Although various approaches for spatial and spectral control of the quantum emitters have been developed, on-chip control of both position and frequency is still a long-standing goal in solid-state quantum emitters. Here, we demonstrate simultaneous control of position and frequency of the quantum emitters from transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers. Atomically thin two-dimensional materials are inherently sensitive to external strain and offer a new opportunity of creating and controlling the quantum emitters by engineering strain. We fabricate an electrostatically actuated microcantilever with nanopyramid patterns, providing a local strain engineering platform for the WSe2 monolayer. The integrated WSe2 generates high-purity single photon emission at patterned positions with a tuning range up to 3.5 meV. Together with the position and frequency control, we investigate the strain response on the fine-structure splitting and confirm 11% reduction in the fine splitting at the estimated tensile strain of 0.07%.

Keywords: Single photon source; WSe2 monolayer; integrated quantum photonics; microcantilever; strain engineering; strain-induced quantum emitters.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't