Solitary confinement for spins in atomically-thin semiconductors

Abstract

Electrons and spins can be confined to atomic defects in atomically thin semiconductors and insulators. These defects may induce intermediate gap states, which alters the electrical and optical properties of the material and can be potentially be harnessed towards applications in quantum technology. Similar to Boron Nitride, Molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) is two-dimensional material with large band gap, making it possible to host atomic defect-based quantum emitters at room temperature. Characterising transport properties in atomically-thin devices proves to be challenging due to high contact resistances between the atomically-thin semiconductor and metal contacts at low temperatures. In this report we address these two issues. First, we investigate the room temperature photon emissions from atomic defects found on a thin flake of MoO3 using photoluminescence spectroscopy. Second, we fabricated devices that includes metal contacts gates for atomically-thin devices to reduce contact resistance. This work has relevance towards realizing atomic defect-based devices having applications in quantum technologies.