Nanoscale resolved mapping of the dipole emission of hBN color centers with a scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope

Abstract: Color centers in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are promising candidates as quantum light sources for future technologies. In this work, we utilize a scattering-type near-field optical microscope (s-SNOM) to study the photoluminescence (PL) emission characteristics of such quantum emitters in metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy grown hBN. On the one hand, we demonstrate direct near-field optical excitation and emission through interaction with the nanofocus of the tip resulting in a subdiffraction limited tip-enhanced PL hotspot. On the other hand, we show that indirect excitation and emission via scattering from the tip significantly increases the recorded PL intensity. This demonstrates that the tip-assisted PL (TAPL) process efficiently guides the generated light to the detector. We apply the TAPL method to map the in-plane dipole orientations of the hBN color centers on the nanoscale. This work promotes the widely available s-SNOM approach to applications in the quantum domain including characterization and optical control.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Nanoscale resolved mapping of the dipole emission of hBN color centers with a scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope ; volume:14 ; number:3 ; year:2025 ; pages:335-342 ; extent:8 ; Nanophotonics ; 14, Heft 3 (2025), 335-342 (gesamt 8)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Niehues, Iris ; Wigger, Daniel ; Kaltenecker, Korbinian J. ; Klein-Hitpass, Annika ; Roelli, Philippe ; Dąbrowska, Aleksandra K. ; Ludwiczak, Katarzyna ; Tatarczak, Piotr ; Becker, Janne O. ; Schmidt, Robert ; Schnell, Martin ; Binder, Johannes ; Wysmolek, Andrzej ; Hillenbrand, Rainer

Further information

• DOI: 10.1515/nanoph-2024-0554
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2502190918587.260413946053
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:20 AM CEST