Creation and control of spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride*

Color centers in diamond and other 3D crystals are excellent candidates for quantum information processing. Recently, there is much exciting progress in color centers in 1D and 2D materials. We have previously demonstrated stable emission and fast optical modulation of quantum emitters in boron nitride nanotubes [Optics Letters, 43, 3778 (2018)]. Recently, we created spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride, a van der Waals material, and observed their electron spin resonance. Thanks to the 2D geometry of hBN, spin defects in hBN will be ideal for studying low-dimensional quantum optomechanics and quantum sensing of other 2D materials.