Quantum emission from localized defects in zinc sulfide

Single-photon sources in solid-state systems are widely explored as fundamental constituents of numerous quantumbased technologies. We report the observation of singlephoton emitters in zinc sulfide and present their photophysical properties via established spectroscopy techniques. The emitter behaves like a three-level system with an intermediate metastable state. It emits at similar to 640 nm, and its emission is linearly polarized, with a lifetime of (2.2 +/- 0.8) ns. The existence of single-photon sources in zinc sulfide is appealing due to the well-established manufacturing techniques of the material, its versatile technological uses, as well as the availability of many zinc isotopes with potential for designing ad hoc emitter-host pairs with tailored properties. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America