Hexagonal boron nitride is a promising material of modern optoelectronics. Point defects in this material can serve as single-photon sources. In this paper we investigate the modification of the luminescent properties of hexagonal boron nitride by means of local irradiation with focused gallium and helium ion beams. It is demonstrated that the intensity of band-to-band cathodoluminescence monotonically decreases with increasing ion fluence for both gallium and helium. The luminescence band of about 2 eV may become more intense after exposure to He ions with certain ion fluence. The effect of complete quenching of luminescence after gallium irradiation is used to estimate the diffusion length of excess charge carriers.

Point defects in wide-bandgap semiconductors, in particular in hexagonal boron nitride, are promising candidates for single-photon emitters, used in quantum informatics. We investigated cathodoluminescence of ion beam induced defects in hexagonal boron nitride, as well as the effect of prolonged electron irradiation on the intensity of the luminescence. It has been shown that the intensity of both band-to-band emission and defect related emission decreased after ion irradiation, and during subsequent electron irradiation the intensity of 2 eV luminescence band increased, whereas the intensity of other bands remained unchanged.

XXVIII Российская конференция по электронной микроскопии VI школа молодых учёных Программный комитет Авилов А.С.-председатель (ФНИЦ «Кристаллография и фотоника» РАН) Васильев А.Л.-зам. председателя (НИЦ «КИ») Якимов Е.Б.-зам. председателя (ИПТМ РАН) Аронин А.С.