2D semiconductors as on-chip light sources for integrated nanophotonics

Abstract: Incorporating on-chip light sources directly into nanophotonic waveguides generally requires introducing a different material to the chip than that used for guiding the light, a crucial step that requires dealing with several technical challenges, e.g., atomic lattice mismatch in epitaxial growth between substrate and luminescent materials resulting in strain defects that lower performance. Here we demonstrate that van der Waals materials, such as the 2D semiconductor MoSe2, can easily be transferred onto gold plasmonic nanowaveguides using standard dry visco-elastic polymer transfer techniques. We further show that the photoluminescence from MoSe2 can be injected directly into these on-chip waveguides. Our fabrication methods are compatible with large-scale roll-to-roll manufacturing techniques, highlighting a potential cost-effective and scalable hybrid plasmonic and 2D semiconductor platform for integrated nanophotonics.