Engineering photonic environments for two-dimensional materials

Abstract

A fascinating photonic platform with a small device scale, fast operating speed, as well as low energy consumption is two-dimensional (2D) materials, thanks to their in-plane crystalline structures and out-of-plane quantum confinement. The key to further advancement in this research field is the ability to modify the optical properties of the 2D materials. The modifications typically come from the materials themselves, for example, altering their chemical compositions. This article reviews a comparably less explored but promising means, through engineering the photonic surroundings. Rather than modifying materials themselves, this means manipulates the dielectric and metallic environments, both uniform and nanostructured, that directly interact with the materials. For 2D materials that are only one or a few atoms thick, the interaction with the environment can be remarkably efficient. This review summarizes the three degrees of freedom of this interaction: weak coupling, strong coupling, and multifunctionality. In addition, it reviews a relatively timing concept of engineering that directly applied to the 2D materials by patterning. Benefiting from the burgeoning development of nanophotonics, the engineering of photonic environments provides a versatile and creative methodology of reshaping light–matter interaction in 2D materials.

Engineering Plasmonic Environments for 2D Materials and 2D-Based Photodetectors

“…Therefore, an electric field perpendicular to interface decays exponentially, leading to a highly localized and enhanced electromagnetic field near the metal surface. A large number of novel metal nanostructures have been computationally simulated and experimentally fabricated, and the corresponding plasmonic properties have been studied and exploited in other materials [21,93].…”

“…Therefore, efficiently enhancing the light-matter interaction is highly desirable for photonic and optoelectronic devices based on 2D materials. A promising approach is to engineer the plasmonic environment around 2D materials for modulating light-matter interaction in 2D materials [5,6,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. This method greatly benefits from the advances in the development of nanofabrication and vdW interaction of 2D materials.…”

Coherent momentum control of forbidden excitons

“…The oblique incident laser can be coupled in, and its out-of-plane polarized component can be selectively enhanced by the scanning probe microscope (STM) driven gap mode between the gold tip and gold substrate, yielding a greater coupling efficiency with the out-of-plane transition dipole moment of dark excitons. However, its complicated setup limits its application, especially when integrating the dark exciton read-out system with an on-chip systems 11 .…”

“…1a ). In this design, a transverse magnetic (TM) like BIC at the Γ-point can efficiently convert the in-plane polarized normally-incident pump laser into out-of-plane polarized near-field energy to gain significant efficiency to couple with the out-of-plane transition dipole moment of dark excitons 11 , 16 , 28 . In this way, the spin-forbidden electrons transition from the valence band (VB) to the conduction band (CB) with opposite spin direction can be allowed, resulting in dark exciton brightening (Fig.…”

Strategical Deep Learning for Photonic Bound States in the Continuum

“…As one of the most fundamental building blocks of the physical world, resonance is ubiquitous, ranging from daily phenomena such as musical instruments to cutting‐edge science and technologies like the Fabry–Perot resonator in quantum systems. [ 1 ] Resonances exhibit enhanced amplitudes of energy modulation under a periodic load at frequencies near their natural frequencies, storing large energy. Specifically, in the field of optics, optical resonators such as optical ring resonators, [ 2 ] Mie resonators, [ 3 ] photonic crystal cavities, [ 4 ] etc., allow a beam of light to circulate and harness photonic energy in the form of resonances.…”