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Transition metal dichalcogenide nanodisks as high-index dielectric Mie nanoresonators

Nature Nanotechnology volume 14, pages 679–683 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have recently been proposed as an excitonic platform for advanced optical and electronic functionalities1,2,3. However, in spite of intense research efforts, it has not been widely appreciated that TMDCs also possess a high refractive index4,5. This characteristic opens up the possibility to utilize them to construct resonant nanoantennas based on subwavelength geometrical modes6,7. Here, we show that nanodisks, fabricated from exfoliated multilayer WS2, support distinct Mie resonances and anapole states8 that can be tuned in wavelength over the visible and near-infrared range by varying the nanodisk size and aspect ratio. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate a novel regime of light–matter interaction—anapole-exciton polaritons—which we realize within a single WS2 nanodisk. We argue that the TMDC material anisotropy and the presence of excitons enrich traditional nanophotonics approaches based on conventional high-index materials and/or plasmonics.

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Fig. 1: Calculation of geometrical resonances in WS2 nanodisks and nanodisk fabrication.
Fig. 2: Experimental observation of Mie resonances and anapoles in WS2 nanodisks.
Fig. 3: Strong coupling between anapoles and excitons in WS2 nanodisks.

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Data availability

The data plotted in Figs. 1a–c,d, 2b–e and 3a–f can be accessed via Figshare repository via the link https://figshare.com/s/4b8abbb708335aee3cc5

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge financial support from the Olle Engkvist Foundation, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Chalmers Excellence Initiative Nano and the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Ruggero Verre, Denis G. Baranov.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Ruggero Verre, Denis G. Baranov, Battulga Munkhbat, Jorge Cuadra, Mikael Käll & Timur Shegai

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  1. Ruggero Verre
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  2. Denis G. Baranov
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Contributions

D.B., R.V., M.K. and T.S. conceived the project, R.V. designed the experiment and fabricated the samples, D.B. developed the theoretical models and performed the simulations, B.M. and J.C. measured the optical response. All authors contributed to analysis of the results and writing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mikael Käll or Timur Shegai.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Journal peer review information: Nature Nanotechnology thanks Andrea Alu and other anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Verre, R., Baranov, D.G., Munkhbat, B. et al. Transition metal dichalcogenide nanodisks as high-index dielectric Mie nanoresonators. Nat. Nanotechnol. 14, 679–683 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-019-0442-x

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