  Single-photon emitters are essential for enabling several emerging
applications in quantum information technology, quantum sensing and quantum
communication. Scalable photonic platforms capable of hosting intrinsic or
directly embedded sources of single-photon emission are of particular interest
for the realization of integrated quantum photonic circuits. Here, we report on
the first-time observation of room-temperature single-photon emitters in
silicon nitride (SiN) films grown on silicon dioxide substrates. As SiN has
recently emerged as one of the most promising materials for integrated quantum
photonics, the proposed platform is suitable for scalable fabrication of
quantum on-chip devices. Photophysical analysis reveals bright (>$10^5$
counts/s), stable, linearly polarized, and pure quantum emitters in SiN films
with the value of the second-order autocorrelation function at zero time delay
$g^{(2)}(0)$ below 0.2 at room temperatures. The emission is suggested to
originate from a specific defect center in silicon nitride due to the narrow
wavelength distribution of the observed luminescence peak. Single-photon
emitters in silicon nitride have the potential to enable direct, scalable and
low-loss integration of quantum light sources with the well-established
photonic on-chip platform.
