Macroscopic transition metal dichalcogenides monolayers with uniformly high optical quality.

The unique optical properties of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers have attracted significant attention for both photonics applications and fundamental studies of low-dimensional systems. TMD monolayers of high optical quality, however, have been limited to micron-sized flakes produced by low-throughput and labour-intensive processes, whereas large-area films are often affected by surface defects and large inhomogeneity. Here we report a rapid and reliable method to synthesize macroscopic-scale TMD monolayers of uniform, high optical quality. Using 1-dodecanol encapsulation combined with gold-tape-assisted exfoliation, we obtain monolayers with lateral size > 1 mm, exhibiting exciton energy, linewidth, and quantum yield uniform over the whole area and close to those of high-quality micron-sized flakes. We tentatively associate the role of the two molecular encapsulating layers as isolating the TMD from the substrate and passivating the chalcogen vacancies, respectively. We demonstrate the utility of our encapsulated monolayers by scalable integration with an array of photonic crystal cavities, creating polariton arrays with enhanced light-matter coupling strength. This work provides a pathway to achieving high-quality two-dimensional materials over large areas, enabling research and technology development beyond individual micron-sized devices.

Interlayer exciton laser of extended spatial coherence in atomically thin heterostructures.

Two-dimensional semiconductors have emerged as a new class of materials for nanophotonics owing to their strong exciton-photon interaction1,2 and their ability to be engineered and integrated into devices3. Here we take advantage of these properties to engineer an efficient lasing medium based on direct-bandgap interlayer excitons in rotationally aligned atomically thin heterostructures4. Lasing is measured from a transition-metal dichalcogenide heterobilayer (WSe2-MoSe2) integrated in a silicon nitride grating resonator. An abrupt increase in the spatial coherence of the emission is observed across the lasing threshold. The work establishes interlayer excitons in two-dimensional heterostructures as a gain medium with spatially coherent lasing emission and potential for heterogeneous integration. With electrically tunable exciton-photon interaction strengths5 and long-range dipolar interactions, these interlayer excitons are promising for application as low-power, ultrafast lasers and modulators and for the study of many-body quantum phenomena6.