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Two-dimensional material nanophotonics

Nature Photonics volume 8, pages 899–907 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Two-dimensional materials exhibit diverse electronic properties, ranging from insulating hexagonal boron nitride and semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides such as molybdenum disulphide, to semimetallic graphene. In this Review, we first discuss the optical properties and applications of various two-dimensional materials, and then cover two different approaches for enhancing their interactions with light: through their integration with external photonic structures, and through intrinsic polaritonic resonances. Finally, we present a narrow-bandgap layered material — black phosphorus — that serendipitously bridges the energy gap between the zero-bandgap graphene and the relatively large-bandgap transition metal dichalcogenides. The plethora of two-dimensional materials and their heterostructures, together with the array of available approaches for enhancing the light–matter interaction, offers the promise of scientific discoveries and nanophotonics technologies across a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum.

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Figure 1: 2D materials covering a broad spectral range.
Figure 2: Photocurrent-generation mechanisms in graphene.
Figure 3: Optoelectronic properties of semiconducting TMDC monolayers.
Figure 4: Using photonic integration to enhance the interaction between light and 2D materials.
Figure 5: Using polaritonic resonances to enhance the interaction between light and 2D materials.
Figure 6: Bridging the bandgap using BP.

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Acknowledgements

We thank X. Xu at the University of Washington, Seattle and M. Dresselhaus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology for insightful comments. We would also like to thank T. Low at the University of Minnesota for his input at the early stage of this project and L. Wang at the University of Southern California for designing Fig. 6c,d. F.X. acknowledges support from the Office of Naval Research (N00014-14-1-0565), the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-14-1-0277) and the National Science Foundation (CRISP NSF MRSEC DMR-1119826). H.W. acknowledges support from the Army Research Laboratory (W911NF-14-2-0113). D.X. acknowledges support from the Department of Energy (SC0012509), the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-14-1-0277), and the National Science Foundation (EFRI-1433496).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, Yale University, 15 Prospect Street, New Haven, 06511, Connecticut, USA

    Fengnian Xia

  2. Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, 3737 Watt Way, Los Angeles, 90089, California, USA

    Han Wang

  3. Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, 15213, Pennsylvania, USA

    Di Xiao

  4. Army Research Laboratory, Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate, 2800 Power Mill Road, Adelphi, 20783, Maryland, USA

    Madan Dubey

  5. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 160 Governors Drive, Amherst, 01003, Massachusetts, USA

    Ashwin Ramasubramaniam

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F.X. and H.W. led the project. All authors contributed significantly to the preparation of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Fengnian Xia.

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Xia, F., Wang, H., Xiao, D. et al. Two-dimensional material nanophotonics. Nature Photon 8, 899–907 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2014.271

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