(142e) Nanophotonics with 2D Semiconductors

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) are an emerging class of semiconductors made of atomically thin layers bonded by weak van der Waals forces that can be isolated into stable individual monolayer films. These materials demonstrate unique optical and electronic properties making them ideal for optoelectronic and nanophotonic applications. In this talk I will discuss our recent work revealing unique advantage of TMDC materials for nanophotonics. Specifically, I will show that owing to their very high refractive index and near-unity quantum yield TMDCs may enable high efficiency atomically thin solar cells. I will highlight several light trapping schemes and show that a near-complete light absorption may be possible in just less than 10 nanometer thick of material. I will then demonstrate our experimental study of peculiar regimes of light absorption in nanostructured films and demonstration of record high quantum efficiencies in this unique regime. I will further give an outlook of utilizing TMDCs for highly confined light guiding and for applications related to quantum optics.