Enhanced Light Emission from Large-Area Monolayer MoS₂ Using Plasmonic Nanodisc Arrays

Single-layer direct band gap semiconductors such as transition metal dichalcogenides are quite attractive for a wide range of electronics, photonics, and optoelectronics applications. Their monolayer thickness provides significant advantages in many applications such as field-effect transistors for high-performance electronics, sensor/detector applications, and flexible electronics. However, for optoelectronics and photonics applications, inherent monolayer thickness poses a significant challenge for the interaction of light with the material, which therefore results in poor light emission and absorption behavior. Here, we demonstrate enhanced light emission from large-area monolayer MoS₂ using plasmonic silver nanodisc arrays, where enhanced photoluminescence up to 12-times has been measured. Observed phenomena stem from the fact that plasmonic resonance couples to both excitation and emission fields and thus boosts the light–matter interaction at the nanoscale. Reported results allow us to engineer light–matter interactions in two-dimensional materials and could enable highly efficient photodetectors, sensors, and photovoltaic devices, where photon absorption and emission efficiency highly dictate the device performance