Liquid-activated quantum emission from pristine hexagonal boron nitride for nanofluidic sensing
Source abstract
Abstract
Abstract Liquids confined down to the atomic scale can show radically new properties. However, only indirect and ensemble measurements operate in such extreme confinement, calling for novel optical approaches that enable direct imaging at the molecular level. Here we harness fluorescence originating from single-photon emitters at the surface of hexagonal boron nitride for molecular imaging and sensing in nanometrically confined liquids. The emission originates from the chemisorption of organic solvent molecules onto native surface defects, revealing single-molecule dynamics at the interface through the spatially correlated activation of neighbouring defects. Emitter spectra further offer a direct readout of the local dielectric properties, unveiling increasing dielectric order under nanometre-scale confinement. Liquid-activated native hexagonal boron nitride defects bridge the gap between solid-state nanophotonics and nanofluidics, opening new avenues for nanoscale sensing and optofluidics.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Nanopore and Nanochannel Transport Studies · Diamond and Carbon-based Materials Research · Graphene research and applications
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (44)
Show source-provided references
1. Faucher, S. et al. Critical knowledge gaps in mass transport through single-digit nanopores: a review and perspective. J. Phys. Chem. C 123, 21309–21326 (2019).10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b02178 ↗
2. Bocquet, L. Nanofluidics coming of age. Nat. Mater. 19, 254–256 (2020).10.1038/s41563-020-0625-8 ↗
3. Majumder, M., Chopra, N., Andrews, R. & Hinds, B. J. Enhanced flow in carbon nanotubes. Nature 438, 44–44 (2005).10.1038/438044a ↗
4. Radha, B. et al. Molecular transport through capillaries made with atomic-scale precision. Nature 538, 222–225 (2016).10.1038/nature19363 ↗
5. Secchi, E. et al. Massive radius-dependent flow slippage in carbon nanotubes. Nature 537, 210–213 (2016).10.1038/nature19315 ↗
6. Mouterde, T. et al. Molecular streaming and its voltage control in ångström-scale channels. Nature 567, 87–90 (2019).10.1038/s41586-019-0961-5 ↗
7. Agrawal, K. V., Shimizu, S., Drahushuk, L. W., Kilcoyne, D. & Strano, M. S. Observation of extreme phase transition temperatures of water confined inside isolated carbon nanotubes. Nat. Nanotechnol. 12, 267–273 (2017).10.1038/nnano.2016.254 ↗
8. Fumagalli, L. et al. Anomalously low dielectric constant of confined water. Science 360, 1339–1342 (2018).10.1126/science.aat4191 ↗
9. Grimm, J. B. & Lavis, L. D. Caveat fluorophore: an insiders’ guide to small-molecule fluorescent labels. Nat. Methods 19, 149–158 (2022).10.1038/s41592-021-01338-6 ↗
10. Schirhagl, R., Chang, K., Loretz, M. & Degen, C. L. Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond: nanoscale sensors for physics and biology. Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem. 65, 83–105 (2014).10.1146/annurev-physchem-040513-103659 ↗
11. Aslam, N. et al. Nanoscale nuclear magnetic resonance with chemical resolution. Science 357, 67–71 (2017).10.1126/science.aam8697 ↗
12. Siria, A. et al. Giant osmotic energy conversion measured in a single transmembrane boron nitride nanotube. Nature 494, 455–458 (2013).10.1038/nature11876 ↗
13. Tran, T. T., Bray, K., Ford, M. J., Toth, M. & Aharonovich, I. Quantum emission from hexagonal boron nitride monolayers. Nat. Nanotechnol. 11, 37–41 (2016).10.1038/nnano.2015.242 ↗
14. Hayee, F. et al. Revealing multiple classes of stable quantum emitters in hexagonal boron nitride with correlated optical and electron microscopy. Nat. Mater. 19, 534–539 (2020).10.1038/s41563-020-0616-9 ↗
15. Kianinia, M., Xu, Z.-Q., Toth, M. & Aharonovich, I. Quantum emitters in 2D materials: emitter engineering, photophysics, and integration in photonic nanostructures. Appl. Phys. Rev. 9, 011306 (2022).10.1063/5.0072091 ↗
16. Choi, S. et al. Engineering and localization of quantum emitters in large hexagonal boron nitride layers. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 8, 29642–29648 (2016).10.1021/acsami.6b09875 ↗
17. Fournier, C. et al. Position-controlled quantum emitters with reproducible emission wavelength in hexagonal boron nitride. Nat. Commun. 12, 3779 (2021).10.1038/s41467-021-24019-6 ↗
18. Mendelson, N. et al. Identifying carbon as the source of visible single-photon emission from hexagonal boron nitride. Nat. Mater. 20, 321–328 (2021).10.1038/s41563-020-00850-y ↗
19. Koperski, M. et al. Midgap radiative centers in carbon-enriched hexagonal boron nitride. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 117, 13214–13219 (2020).10.1073/pnas.2003895117 ↗
20. Comtet, J. et al. Direct observation of water-mediated single-proton transport between hBN surface defects. Nat. Nanotechnol. 15, 598–604 (2020).10.1038/s41565-020-0695-4 ↗
21. Comtet, J. et al. Anomalous interfacial dynamics of single proton charges in binary aqueous solutions. Sci. Adv. 7, eabg8568 (2021).10.1126/sciadv.abg8568 ↗
22. Glushkov, E. et al. Engineering optically active defects in hexagonal boron nitride using focused ion beam and water. ACS Nano 16, 3695–3703 (2022).10.1021/acsnano.1c07086 ↗
23. Na, Y. S. et al. Modulation of optical and electrical properties in hexagonal boron nitride by defects induced via oxygen plasma treatment. 2D Mater. 8, 045041 (2021).10.1088/2053-1583/ac2c10 ↗
24. Taniguchi, T. & Watanabe, K. Synthesis of high-purity boron nitride single crystals under high pressure by using Ba–BN solvent. J. Cryst. Growth 303, 525–529 (2007).10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2006.12.061 ↗
25. Wong, D. et al. Characterization and manipulation of individual defects in insulating hexagonal boron nitride using scanning tunnelling microscopy. Nat. Nanotechnol. 10, 949–953 (2015).10.1038/nnano.2015.188 ↗
26. Schué, L., Stenger, I., Fossard, F., Loiseau, A. & Barjon, J. Characterization methods dedicated to nanometer-thick hBN layers. 2D Mater. 4, 015028 (2016).10.1088/2053-1583/4/1/015028 ↗
27. Henck, H. et al. Direct observation of the band structure in bulk hexagonal boron nitride. Phys. Rev. B 95, 085410 (2017).10.1103/PhysRevB.95.085410 ↗
28. Comtet, J. et al. Wide-field spectral super-resolution mapping of optically active defects in hexagonal boron nitride. Nano Lett. 19, 2516–2523 (2019).10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b00178 ↗
29. Feng, J. et al. Imaging of optically active defects with nanometer resolution. Nano Lett. 18, 1739–1744 (2018).10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b04819 ↗
30. Lvova, N. & Ananina, O. Y. Theoretical study of the adsorption properties of porous boron nitride nanosheets. Comput. Mater. Sci. 115, 11–17 (2016).10.1016/j.commatsci.2015.12.035 ↗
31. Huber, F. et al. Chemical bond formation showing a transition from physisorption to chemisorption. Science 366, 235–238 (2019).10.1126/science.aay3444 ↗
32. Anthony, S., Zhang, L. & Granick, S. Methods to track single-molecule trajectories. Langmuir 22, 5266–5272 (2006).10.1021/la060244i ↗
33. He, X. et al. Tunable room-temperature single-photon emission at telecom wavelengths from sp3 defects in carbon nanotubes. Nat. Photon. 11, 577–582 (2017).10.1038/nphoton.2017.119 ↗
34. Mendelson, N., Doherty, M., Toth, M., Aharonovich, I. & Tran, T. T. Strain-induced modification of the optical characteristics of quantum emitters in hexagonal boron nitride. Adv. Mater. 32, 1908316 (2020).10.1002/adma.201908316 ↗
35. Nikolay, N. et al. Very large and reversible Stark-shift tuning of single emitters in layered hexagonal boron nitride. Phys. Rev. Appl. 11, 041001 (2019).10.1103/PhysRevApplied.11.041001 ↗
36. Xu, Z.-Q. et al. Charge and energy transfer of quantum emitters in 2D heterostructures. 2D Mater. 7, 031001 (2020).10.1088/2053-1583/ab7fc3 ↗
37. Stewart, J. C. et al. Quantum emitter localization in layer-engineered hexagonal boron nitride. ACS Nano 15, 13591–13603 (2021).10.1021/acsnano.1c04467 ↗
38. Kavokine, N., Marbach, S., Siria, A. & Bocquet, L. Ionic Coulomb blockade as a fractional Wien effect. Nat. Nanotechnol. 14, 573–578 (2019).10.1038/s41565-019-0425-y ↗
39. Motevaselian, M. H. & Aluru, N. R. Universal reduction in dielectric response of confined fluids. ACS Nano 14, 12761–12770 (2020).10.1021/acsnano.0c03173 ↗
40. Seal, A. & Govind Rajan, A. Modulating water slip using atomic-scale defects: friction on realistic hexagonal boron nitride surfaces. Nano Lett. 21, 8008–8016 (2021).10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c02208 ↗
41. Ovesný, M., Křížek, P., Borkovec, J., Švindrych, Z. & Hagen, G. M. ThunderSTORM: a comprehensive ImageJ plug-in for PALM and STORM data analysis and super-resolution imaging. Bioinformatics 30, 2389–2390 (2014).10.1093/bioinformatics/btu202 ↗
42. Newville, M., Stensitzki, T., Allen, D. B. & Ingargiola, A. LMFIT: non-linear least-square minimization and curve-fitting for Python. Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11813 (2014).10.5281/zenodo.11813 ↗
43. Crocker, J. C. & Grier, D. G. Methods of digital video microscopy for colloidal studies. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 179, 298–310 (1996).10.1006/jcis.1996.0217 ↗
44. Allan, D. B., Caswell, T., Keim, N. C., van der Wel, C. M. & Verweij, R. W. soft-matter/trackpy: v0.6.1. Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7670439 (2023).10.5281/zenodo.7670439 ↗