Generation and Detection of Surface Plasmon Polaritons by Transition Metal Dichalcogenides for Chip-level Electronic-Photonic Integrated Circuits

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the generation and detection of surface plasmon polaritons using monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides, advancing the integration of electronics and photonics at nanoscales for chip-level circuits.

Contribution

It introduces the use of atomically thin TMDs as active media for plasmonic devices, enabling nanometer-scale optical communication in integrated circuits.

Findings

Successful fabrication of devices with silver nanowires and TMDs

Optical imaging confirmed plasmon polariton generation and detection

TMDs enable efficient light emission and absorption at the same wavelength

Abstract

The monolithic integration of electronics and photonics has attracted enormous attention due to its potential applications. However, the realization of such hybrid circuits has remained a challenge because it requires optical communication at nanometer scales. A major challenge to this integration is the identification of a suitable material. After discussing the material aspect of the challenge, we identified atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) as a perfect material platform to implement the circuit. The selection of TMDs is based on their very distinct property: monolayer TMDs are able to emit and absorb light at the same wavelength determined by direct exciton transitions. To prove the concept, we fabricated simple devices consisting of silver nanowires as plasmonic waveguides and monolayer TMDs as active optoelectronic media. Using photoexcitation, direct optical imaging and spectral analysis, we demonstrated generation and detection of surface plasmon polaritons by monolayer TMDs. Regarded as novel materials for electronics and photonics, transition metal dichalcogenides are expected to find new applications in next generation integrated circuits.