EurekAlert July 13, 2020
An international team of researchers (USA – UC Berkeley, Columbia University, industry, Montana State University, Germany, Japan) found that placing sufficient strain in a 2D material–tungsten diselenide creates localized states that can yield single-photon emitters. The team was able to directly image these states for the first time, revealing that even at room temperature they are highly tunable and act as quantum dots, tightly confined pieces of semiconductors that emit light. Fully tunable, room-temperature single-photon emitters are now within our grasp, paving the way for controllable–and practical quantum photonic devices. These devices can be the foundation for quantum technologies that will profoundly change computing, sensing, and information technology…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Schematic of a laser-illuminated nano-optical probe investigating a strained nanobubble of tungsten diselenide (WSe2; green and yellow balls)… Credit: Nicholas Borys/Montana State University