Tunable Single-Photon Emission by Defective Boron-Nitride Nanotubes for High-Precision Force Detection

Boron-nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) hold great potential for electronic, optical, and mechanical applications. By introducing a NBVN defect of removing one nitrogen atom while replacing one boron by nitrogen atom, we examined the use of defective NBVN@BNNTs as a novel type of single-photon emission (SPE) material. Using first-principles calculations to reveal the electronic structures of NBVN@BNNTs, we found that SPE with 1.45-2.29 eV energy can be generated in NBVN@BNNTs with size ranging from (5,0) to (10,0). It is also intriguing to find that their SPE responses are sensitive to the external forces, as indicated by the computed potential energy surfaces and dielectric tensors. Specifically, the (7,0) NBVN@BNNT can serve as an ideal force detector due to its sensitivity and linear response to external force. However, the (5,0) and (6,0) NBVN@BNNTs exhibit insensitive SPE with respect to force applied, and the detection ability of the (8,0), (9,0), and (10,0) NBVN@BNNTs are limited due to the emergence of new photon emissions when tensions become larger than 10 nN. These findings would open a new door for utilizing defective BNNTs for SPE and mechanical detection applications.