An electroplating-based plasmonic platform for giant emission enhancement in monolayer semiconductors

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel electroplating-based plasmonic platform that significantly enhances the photoluminescence of monolayer MoS$_2$, overcoming limitations of light absorption in 2D semiconductors.

Contribution

It introduces a new fabrication method combining electron beam lithography and electroplating to create gold nanodisc arrays that greatly boost emission in monolayer semiconductors.

Findings

Achieved up to 150-fold PL enhancement of monolayer MoS$_2$

Demonstrated the effectiveness of plasmonic nanostructures in optical property manipulation

Validated experimental results with electromagnetic simulations

Abstract

Two dimensional semiconductors have attracted considerable attention owing to their exceptional electronic and optical characteristics. However, their practical application has been hindered by the limited light absorption resulting from their atomically thin thickness and low quantum yield. A highly effective approach to manipulate optical properties and address these limitations is integrating subwavelength plasmonic nanostructures with these monolayers. In this study, we employed electron beam lithography and electroplating technique to fabricate a gold nanodisc (AuND) array capable of enhancing the photoluminescence (PL) of monolayer MoS$_2$ giantly. Monolayer MoS$_2$ placed on the top of the AuND array yields up to 150-fold PL enhancement compared to that on a gold film. We explain our experimental findings based on electromagnetic simulations.