Spin defects like the negatively charged boron vacancy color center (VB−) in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) may enable new forms of quantum sensing with near-surface defects in layered van der Waals heterostructures. Here, we reveal the effect of strain associated with creases in hBN flakes on VB− and VB color centers in hBN with correlative cathodoluminescence and photoluminescence microscopies. We observe strong localized enhancement and redshifting of the VB− luminescence at creases, consistent with density functional theory calculations showing VB− migration toward regions with moderate uniaxial compressive strain. The ability to manipulate these spin defects with highly localized strain offers intriguing possibilities for future 2D quantum sensors.
@article{arxiv.2203.10075,
title = {Correlative nanoscale imaging of strained hBN spin defects},
author = {David Curie and Jaron T. Krogel and Lukas Cavar and Abhishek Solanki and Pramey Upadhyaya and Tongcang Li and Yun-Yi Pai and Michael Chilcote and Vasudevan Iyer and Alex Puretzky and Ilia Ivanov and Mao-Hua Du and Fernando Reboredo and Benjamin Lawrie},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2203.10075},
year = {2022}
}