A Waveguide-Integrated Two-Dimensional Light-Emitting Diode Based on p-Type WSe₂/n-Type CdS Nanoribbon Heterojunction.

Abstract

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have emerged as two-dimensional (2D) building blocks to construct nanoscale light sources. To date, a wide array of TMD-based light-emitting devices (LEDs) have been successfully demonstrated. Yet, their atomically thin and planar nature entails an additional waveguide/microcavity for effective optical routing/confinement. In this sense, integration of TMDs with electronically active photonic nanostructures to form a functional heterojunction is of crucial importance for 2D optoelectronic chips with reduced footprint and higher integration capacity. Here, we report a room-temperature waveguide-integrated light-emitting device based on a p-type monolayer (ML) tungsten diselenide (WSe₂) and n-type cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoribbon (NR) heterojunction diode. The hybrid LED exhibited clear rectification under forward biasing, giving pronounced electroluminescence (EL) at 1.65 eV from exciton resonances in ML WSe₂. The integrated EL intensity against the driving current shows a superlinear profile at a high current level, implying a facilitated carrier injection <i>via</i> intervalley scattering. By leveraging CdS NR waveguides, the WSe₂ EL can be efficiently coupled and further routed for potential optical interconnect functionalities. Our results manifest the waveguided LEDs as a dual-role module for TMD-based optoelectronic circuitries.