Quantum Emission from Defects in Single-Crystalline Hexagonal Boron Nitride

Bulk hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has recently attracted attention due to its unique directionally dependent optical properties. Usually a metamaterial must be meticulously designed and fabricated, but it happens that hBN is a n00exa00ext00exu00exr00exa00exl00exl00exy o00exc00exc00exu00exr00exr00exi00exn00exg $h{{0}{0ex}}y{{0}{0ex}}p{{0}{0ex}}e{{0}{0ex}}r{{0}{0ex}}b{{0}{0ex}}o{{0}{0ex}}l{{0}{0ex}}i{{0}{0ex}}c$ $m{{0}{0ex}}e{{0}{0ex}}t{{0}{0ex}}a{{0}{0ex}}m{{0}{0ex}}a{{0}{0ex}}t{{0}{0ex}}e{{0}{0ex}}r{{0}{0ex}}i{{0}{0ex}}a{{0}{0ex}}l$. The authors report room-temperature emission of single photons from bulk hBN, and the associated photodynamics. These results point to using hBN as a platform for a broad range of applications in nanophotonics and quantum optics.