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Sharp zero-phonon lines of single organic molecules on a hexagonal boron-nitride surface

Single fluorescent molecules embedded in the bulk of host crystals have proven to be sensitive probes of the dynamics in their nano environment, thanks to their narrow (about 30–50 MHz or 0.1–0.2 μeV) optical linewidth of the 0-0 zero-phonon line (0-0 ZPL) at cryogenic temperatures. However, the opt...

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Autores principales: Smit, Robert, Tebyani, Arash, Hameury, Jil, van der Molen, Sense Jan, Orrit, Michel
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10693553/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38042826
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42865-4
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author Smit, Robert
Tebyani, Arash
Hameury, Jil
van der Molen, Sense Jan
Orrit, Michel
author_facet Smit, Robert
Tebyani, Arash
Hameury, Jil
van der Molen, Sense Jan
Orrit, Michel
author_sort Smit, Robert
collection PubMed
description Single fluorescent molecules embedded in the bulk of host crystals have proven to be sensitive probes of the dynamics in their nano environment, thanks to their narrow (about 30–50 MHz or 0.1–0.2 μeV) optical linewidth of the 0-0 zero-phonon line (0-0 ZPL) at cryogenic temperatures. However, the optical linewidths of the 0-0 ZPL have been found to increase dramatically as the single molecules are located closer to a surface or interface, while no 0-0 ZPL has been detected for single molecules on any surface. Here we study single terrylene molecules adsorbed on the surface of hexagonal boron-nitride (hBN) substrates. Our low-temperature results show that it is possible to observe the 0-0 ZPL of fluorescent molecules on a surface. We compare our results for molecules deposited on the surfaces of annealed and non-annealed hBN flakes and we see a marked improvement in the spectral stability of the emitters after annealing.
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spelling pubmed-106935532023-12-04 Sharp zero-phonon lines of single organic molecules on a hexagonal boron-nitride surface Smit, Robert Tebyani, Arash Hameury, Jil van der Molen, Sense Jan Orrit, Michel Nat Commun Article Single fluorescent molecules embedded in the bulk of host crystals have proven to be sensitive probes of the dynamics in their nano environment, thanks to their narrow (about 30–50 MHz or 0.1–0.2 μeV) optical linewidth of the 0-0 zero-phonon line (0-0 ZPL) at cryogenic temperatures. However, the optical linewidths of the 0-0 ZPL have been found to increase dramatically as the single molecules are located closer to a surface or interface, while no 0-0 ZPL has been detected for single molecules on any surface. Here we study single terrylene molecules adsorbed on the surface of hexagonal boron-nitride (hBN) substrates. Our low-temperature results show that it is possible to observe the 0-0 ZPL of fluorescent molecules on a surface. We compare our results for molecules deposited on the surfaces of annealed and non-annealed hBN flakes and we see a marked improvement in the spectral stability of the emitters after annealing. Nature Publishing Group UK 2023-12-02 /pmc/articles/PMC10693553/ /pubmed/38042826 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42865-4 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Article
Smit, Robert
Tebyani, Arash
Hameury, Jil
van der Molen, Sense Jan
Orrit, Michel
Sharp zero-phonon lines of single organic molecules on a hexagonal boron-nitride surface
title Sharp zero-phonon lines of single organic molecules on a hexagonal boron-nitride surface
title_full Sharp zero-phonon lines of single organic molecules on a hexagonal boron-nitride surface
title_fullStr Sharp zero-phonon lines of single organic molecules on a hexagonal boron-nitride surface
title_full_unstemmed Sharp zero-phonon lines of single organic molecules on a hexagonal boron-nitride surface
title_short Sharp zero-phonon lines of single organic molecules on a hexagonal boron-nitride surface
title_sort sharp zero-phonon lines of single organic molecules on a hexagonal boron-nitride surface
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10693553/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38042826
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42865-4
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