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

摘要

The monolithic integration of electronics and photonics has attractedenormous attention due to its potential applications. However, the realizationof such hybrid circuits has remained a challenge because it requires opticalcommunication at nanometer scales. A major challenge to this integration is theidentification of a suitable material. After discussing the material aspect ofthe challenge, we identified atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides(TMDs) as a perfect material platform to implement the circuit. The selectionof TMDs is based on their very distinct property: monolayer TMDs are able toemit and absorb light at the same wavelength determined by direct excitontransitions. To prove the concept, we fabricated simple devices consisting ofsilver nanowires as plasmonic waveguides and monolayer TMDs as activeoptoelectronic media. Using photoexcitation, direct optical imaging andspectral analysis, we demonstrated generation and detection of surface plasmonpolaritons by monolayer TMDs. Regarded as novel materials for electronics andphotonics, transition metal dichalcogenides are expected to find newapplications in next generation integrated circuits.