Despite its simple crystal structure, layered boron nitride features a surprisingly complex variety of phonon-assisted luminescence peaks. We present a combined experimental and theoretical study on ultraviolet-light emission in hexagonal and rhombohedral bulk boron nitride crystals. Emission spectra of high-quality samples are measured via cathodoluminescence spectroscopy, displaying characteristic differences between the two polytypes. These differences are explained using a fully first-principles computational technique that takes into account radiative emission from ``indirect'', finite-momentum, excitons via coupling to finite-momentum phonons. We show that the differences in peak positions, number of peaks and relative intensities can be qualitatively and quantitatively explained, once a full integration over all relevant momenta of excitons and phonons is performed.
@article{arxiv.2305.17554,
title = {Distinguishing different stackings in layered materials via luminescence spectroscopy},
author = {Matteo Zanfrognini and Alexandre Plaud and Ingrid Stenger and Frédéric Fossard and Lorenzo Sponza and Léonard Schué and Fulvio Paleari and Elisa Molinari and Daniele Varsano and Ludger Wirtz and François Ducastelle and Annick Loiseau and Julien Barjon},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2305.17554},
year = {2023}
}
Comments
Main: 6 pages and 4 figures, Supplementary: 6 pages and 7 figures