Single photon emitters (SPEs) are promising building blocks for practical devices in quantum technologies. Traditionally, these systems are excited using off-resonant visible light through their phonon transitions, yet this process remains poorly understood. Here, we explore the interaction of mid-infrared (MIR) excitation on the properties of SPEs in hexagonal boron nitride. Notably, we present a reversible, non-destructive method to enhance emission from blue SPEs using MIR co-excitation. By resonantly driving defect-localized in-plane infrared-active optical phonon modes near 7.3 um, the MIR field modulates carrier dynamics through a phonon-assisted recombination. This unique feature, not observed previously for defects in solids, is a promising reservoir in a growing toolkit to modulate quantum emitters at room temperature for their use in practical quantum technologies.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2603.08466,
title = {Mid-Infrared Modulation of Quantum Emitters in Hexagonal Boron Nitride},
author = {Karin Yamamura and Xinyang Yu and Chaohao Chen and Mehran Kianinia and Christophe Galland and Igor Aharonovich},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.08466},
year = {2026}
}