Optical Thermometry with Quantum Emitters in Hexagonal Boron Nitride

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 Jun 3;12(22):25464-25470. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c05735. Epub 2020 May 22.

Abstract

Nanoscale optical thermometry is a promising noncontact route for measuring local temperature with both high sensitivity and spatial resolution. In this work, we present a deterministic optical thermometry technique based on quantum emitters in nanoscale hexagonal boron nitride. We show that these nanothermometers show better performance than homologous, all-optical nanothermometers in both sensitivity and the range of working temperature. We demonstrate their effectiveness as nanothermometers by monitoring the local temperature at specific locations in a variety of custom-built microcircuits. This work opens new avenues for nanoscale temperature measurements and heat flow studies in miniaturized, integrated devices.

Keywords: deterministic positioning; hexagonal boron nitride; microcircuits; optical thermometry; quantum emitter; temperature sensing.