Coherent Coupling of WS_2 Monolayers with Metallic Photonic Nanostructures at Room Temperature

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates room temperature strong coupling of WS_2 monolayers with metallic optical cavities, achieving significant Rabi splitting and opening avenues for hybrid light-matter and spintronic applications.

Contribution

It reports the first strong coupling of WS_2 monolayers with metallic cavities at room temperature, with record Rabi splitting values and potential for spin and valleytronics integration.

Findings

Achieved 101 meV Rabi splitting with Fabry-Perot cavity.

Observed 60 meV Rabi splitting with plasmonic arrays.

Enhanced coupling due to WS_2's absorption and exciton properties.

Abstract

Room temperature strong coupling of WS_2 monolayer exciton transitions to metallic Fabry-Perot and plasmonic optical cavities is demonstrated. A Rabi splitting of 101 meV is observed for the Fabry-Perot cavity, more than double those reported to date in other 2D materials. The enhanced magnitude and visibility of WS_2 monolayer strong coupling is attributed to the larger absorption coefficient, the narrower linewidth of the A exciton transition, and greater spin-orbit coupling. For WS_2 coupled to plasmonic arrays, the Rabi splitting still reaches 60 meV despite the less favorable coupling conditions, and displays interesting photoluminescence features. The unambiguous signature of WS_2 monolayer strong coupling in easily fabricated metallic resonators at room temperature suggests many possibilities for combining light-matter hybridization with spin and valleytronics.