On-demand generation of optically active defects in monolayer WS₂ by a focused helium ion beam

We demonstrate that optically active emitters can be locally generated by focusing a He-ion beam onto monolayer WS₂ encapsulated in hBN. The emitters show a low-temperature photoluminescence spectrum, which is well described by an independent Boson model for localized emitters. Consistently, the photoluminescence intensity of the emitters saturates at low excitation intensities, which is distinct to the photoluminescence of excitonic transitions in the investigated WS₂ monolayers. The demonstrated method allows us to position defect emitters in WS₂ monolayers on demand. A statistical analysis suggests the generation yield of individual emitters to be as high as 11% at the highest investigated He-ion doses.