Optically detected magnetic resonance of wafer-scale hexagonal boron nitride thin films

Abstract

Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has recently been shown to host native defects exhibiting optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) with applications in nanoscale magnetic sensing and imaging. To advance these applications, deposition methods to create wafer-scale hBN films with controlled thicknesses are desirable, but a systematic study of the ODMR properties of the resultant films is lacking. Here we perform ODMR measurements of thin films (3–2000nm thick) grown via three different methods: metal–organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD), CVD, and molecular beam epitaxy. We find that they all exhibit an ODMR response, including the thinnest 3nm film, albeit with different characteristic..