"The problem with these materials is that they are just one monolayer thick," said Koray Aydin, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Northwestern University. "In order to use these materials for practical photonic and optoelectric applications, we need to increase their interactions with light."
The team tackled this problem by combining nanotechnology, materials science and plasmonics, the study of the interactions between light and metal. The solution was to design and make a series of silver nanodiscs and arrange them on top of a sheet of MoS2.
Researcher Serkan Butun said: "We've shown that placing silver nanodiscs over the material results in twelve times more light emission."
The use of the nanostructures – as opposed to using a continuous film to cover the MoS2 – allows the material to retain its flexible nature and natural mechanical properties.
The team's next step is to use the same strategy to increase the material's light absorption abilities to create a better material for solar cells and photodetectors. "This is a huge step, but it's not the end of the story," Aydin said. "There might be ways to enhance light emission even further. But, so far, we have successfully shown that it's possible to increase light emission from a very thin material."
