English

Fr\"ohlich-type Polarons in Isotopically Enriched Hexagonal Boron Nitride

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2026-05-21 v1 Materials Science

Abstract

Exciton-phonon interactions play a central role in defining the optical response of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), yet their quantitative determination has remained incomplete. Here, we reveal the Fr\"ohlich-type exciton-phonon coupling in boron-10-enriched hBN using low-temperature cathodoluminescence. We resolve the indirect exciton 5.95±\pm0.02 eV together with its longitudinal optical (LO) phonon replica detuned by 184±\pm56 meV, enabling the extraction of a Fr\"ohlich coupling constant α\alpha=0.159 and a larger exciton binding energy of 161 meV, larger than previously reported values for natural-abundance hBN, which is attributed to isotope enrichment. The inferred polaron radius exceeds the lattice constant, indicating large-polaron behavior. We deduced an exciton scattering time ~of 97 fs, corresponding to a homogeneous linewidth of ~6.76 meV. We further obtain a polaron binding energy of ~48 meV and an effective mass of 1.045 m0m_0. These results provide a direct quantitative characterization of exciton-phonon coupling in isotopically engineered hBN and establish a foundation for tailoring its phonon-polaritonic and quantum-optical properties.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.20428,
  title  = {Fr\"ohlich-type Polarons in Isotopically Enriched Hexagonal Boron Nitride},
  author = {Ioannis Chatzakis and Timur Abdilov and Elliot Walker and Jaime Freitas and Song Liu and James H. Edgar},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.20428},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

34 pages, 6 figures, under review (supporting information is not included)

R2 v1 2026-07-22T07:22:44.998Z