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Published on: January 19, 2018
Excited State Spectroscopy of Boron Vacancy Defects in Hexagonal Boron Nitride Using Time-Resolved Optically Detected
Simon Baber1, Ralph Nicholas Edward Malein1, Prince Khatri1
1College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
We report optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) measurements of an ensemble of spin-1 negatively charged boron vacancies in hexagonal boron nitride. The photoluminescence decay rates are spin-dependent, with intersystem crossing rates of 1.02 ns-1 and 2.03 ns-1 for the m = 0 and m = ±1 states, respectively. Time gating the photoluminescence enhances the ODMR contrast by discriminating between different decay rates. This is particularly effective for detecting the spin of the optically excited state, where a zero-field splitting of |D| = 2.09 GHz is measured. The magnetic field dependence of the photoluminescence exhibits dips corresponding to the ground (GSLAC) and excited-state (ESLAC) anticrossings and additional anticrossings due to coupling with nearby spin-1/2 parasitic impurities. Comparison to a model suggests that the anticrossings are mediated by the interaction with nuclear spins and allows an estimate of the ratio of the singlet to triplet spin-dependent relaxation rates of κ0/κ1 = 0.34.
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