Gelly, RyanWhite, AlexanderScuri, GiovanniLiao, XingGeun Ho, AhnDeng, BingchenWatanabe, KenjiTaniguchi, TakashiVučković, JelenaPark, Hongkung2023-12-202023-09-11Gelly, Ryan, Alexander White, Giovanni Scuri, Xing Liao, Ahn Geun Ho, Bingchen Deng, Kenji Watanabe et al. "An Inverse-Designed Nanophotonic Interface for Excitons in Atomically Thin Materials." Nano Lett. 23, no. 18 (2023): 8779-8786. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c029311530-69841530-6992https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37377557Efficient nanophotonic devices are essential for applications in quantum networking, optical information processing, sensing, and nonlinear optics. Extensive research efforts have focused on integrating two-dimensional (2D) materials into photonic structures, but this integration is often limited by size and material quality. Here, we use hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), a benchmark choice for encapsulating atomically thin materials, as a waveguiding layer while simultaneously improving the optical quality of the embedded films. When combined with photonic inverse design, it becomes a complete nanophotonic platform to interface with optically active 2D materials. Grating couplers and low-loss waveguides provide optical interfacing and routing, tunable cavities provide a large exciton-photon coupling to transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) monolayers through Purcell enhancement, and metasurfaces enable the efficient detection of TMD dark excitons. This work paves the way for advanced 2D-material nanophotonic structures for classical and quantum nonlinear optics.en-USMechanical EngineeringCondensed Matter PhysicsGeneral Materials ScienceGeneral ChemistryBioengineeringJournal Article2023-12-2010.1021/acs.nanolett.3c02931