Room-temperature quantum emission from interface excitons in mixed-dimensional heterostructures.

The development of van der Waals heterostructures has introduced unconventional phenomena that emerge at atomically precise interfaces. For example, interlayer excitons in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides show intriguing optical properties at low temperatures. Here we report on room-temperature observation of interface excitons in mixed-dimensional heterostructures consisting of two-dimensional tungsten diselenide and one-dimensional carbon nanotubes.

van der Waals Decoration of Ultra-High- Silica Microcavities for χ-χ Hybrid Nonlinear Photonics.

Optical nonlinear processes are indispensable in a wide range of applications, including ultrafast lasers, microscopy, and quantum information technologies. Among the diverse nonlinear processes, second-order effects usually overwhelm the higher-order ones, except in centrosymmetric systems, where the second-order susceptibility vanishes to allow the use of the third-order nonlinearity. Here we demonstrate a hybrid photonic platform whereby the balance between second- and third-order susceptibilities can be tuned flexibly.

Colloidal robotics.

Robots have components that work together to accomplish a task. Colloids are particles, usually less than 100 µm, that are small enough that they do not settle out of solution. Colloidal robots are particles capable of functions such as sensing, computation, communication, locomotion and energy management that are all controlled by the particle itself.

Discretized hexagonal boron nitride quantum emitters and their chemical interconversion.

Quantum emitters in two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are of significant interest because of their unique photophysical properties, such as single-photon emission at room temperature, and promising applications in quantum computing and communications. The photoemission from hBN defects covers a wide range of emission energies but identifying and modulating the properties of specific emitters remain challenging due to uncontrolled formation of hBN defects. In this study, more than 2000 spectra are collected consisting of single, isolated zero-phonon lines (ZPLs) between 1.

A wavelength-induced frequency filtering method for fluorescent nanosensors in vivo.

Fluorescent nanosensors hold the potential to revolutionize life sciences and medicine. However, their adaptation and translation into the in vivo environment is fundamentally hampered by unfavourable tissue scattering and intrinsic autofluorescence. Here we develop wavelength-induced frequency filtering (WIFF) whereby the fluorescence excitation wavelength is modulated across the absorption peak of a nanosensor, allowing the emission signal to be separated from the autofluorescence background, increasing the desired signal relative to noise, and internally referencing it to protect against artefacts.

Formation of organic color centers in air-suspended carbon nanotubes using vapor-phase reaction.

Organic color centers in single-walled carbon nanotubes have demonstrated exceptional ability to generate single photons at room temperature in the telecom range. Combining the color centers with pristine air-suspended nanotubes would be desirable for improved performance, but all current synthetic methods occur in solution which makes them incompatible. Here we demonstrate the formation of color centers in air-suspended nanotubes using a vapor-phase reaction.

Irreversible synthesis of an ultrastrong two-dimensional polymeric material.

Polymers that extend covalently in two dimensions have attracted recent attention as a means of combining the mechanical strength and in-plane energy conduction of conventional two-dimensional (2D) materials with the low densities, synthetic processability and organic composition of their one-dimensional counterparts. Efforts so far have proven successful in forms that do not allow full realization of these properties, such as polymerization at flat interfaces or fixation of monomers in immobilized lattices. Another frequently employed synthetic approach is to introduce microscopic reversibility, at the cost of bond stability, to achieve 2D crystals after extensive error correction.

Toward Covalent Organic Framework Metastructures.

The bottom-up assembly of periodically ordered structures provides a scalable way for producing metastructured materials with exotic optical and mechanical properties. However, direct self-assembly of small molecules into such metastructures beyond the nanoscale remains an unresolved issue. Here we demonstrate that metastructured assemblies of two-dimensional (2D) polymers, specifically 2D covalent organic frameworks (COFs), can be directly synthesized in solution.

Diameter Dependence of Water Filling in Lithographically Segmented Isolated Carbon Nanotubes.

Although the structure and properties of water under conditions of extreme confinement are fundamentally important for a variety of applications, they remain poorly understood, especially for dimensions less than 2 nm. This problem is confounded by the difficulty in controlling surface roughness and dimensionality in fabricated nanochannels, contributing to a dearth of experimental platforms capable of carrying out the necessary precision measurements. In this work, we utilize an experimental platform based on the interior of lithographically segmented, isolated single-walled carbon nanotubes to study water under extreme nanoscale confinement.

A Fiber Optic Interface Coupled to Nanosensors: Applications to Protein Aggregation and Organic Molecule Quantification.

Fluorescent nanosensors hold promise to address analytical challenges in the biopharmaceutical industry. The monitoring of therapeutic protein critical quality attributes such as aggregation is a long-standing challenge requiring low detection limits and multiplexing of different product parameters. However, general approaches for interfacing nanosensors to the biopharmaceutical process remain minimally explored to date.

Highly Ordered Two-Dimensional MoS Archimedean Scroll Bragg Reflectors as Chromatically Adaptive Fibers.

Nanostructured fibers provide a basis for a unique class of multifunctional textiles, composites, and membrane applications, including those capable of chromatic modulating because of their high aspect ratio, surface area, and processing capability. Here in, we utilize two-dimensional (2D) materials including molybdenum disulfide (MoS) and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) to generate single layer Archimedean scroll fibers, possessing cross sections formed from a single 2D molecular layer. Chemical vapor deposited (CVD) monolayer MoS (0.

Controlling Photoluminescence Enhancement and Energy Transfer in WS :hBN:WS Vertical Stacks by Precise Interlayer Distances.

2D semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are endowed with fascinating optical properties especially in their monolayer limit. Insulating hBN films possessing customizable thickness can act as a separation barrier to dictate the interactions between TMDs. In this work, vertical layered heterostructures (VLHs) of WS :hBN:WS are fabricated utilizing chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown materials, and the optical performance is evaluated through photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy.

Autoperforation of 2D materials for generating two-terminal memristive Janus particles.

Graphene and other two-dimensional materials possess desirable mechanical, electrical and chemical properties for incorporation into or onto colloidal particles, potentially granting them unique electronic functions. However, this application has not yet been realized, because conventional top-down lithography scales poorly for producing colloidal solutions. Here, we develop an 'autoperforation' technique that provides a means of spontaneous assembly for surfaces composed of two-dimensional molecular scaffolds.

Colloidal nanoelectronic state machines based on 2D materials for aerosolizable electronics.

A previously unexplored property of two-dimensional electronic materials is their ability to graft electronic functionality onto colloidal particles to access local hydrodynamics in fluids to impart mobility and enter spaces inaccessible to larger electronic systems. Here, we demonstrate the design and fabrication of fully autonomous state machines built onto SU-8 particles powered by a two-dimensional material-based photodiode. The on-board circuit connects a chemiresistor circuit element and a memristor element, enabling the detection and storage of information after aerosolization, hydrodynamic propulsion to targets over 0.

Determining the Optimized Interlayer Separation Distance in Vertical Stacked 2D WS :hBN:MoS Heterostructures for Exciton Energy Transfer.

The 2D semiconductor monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides, WS and MoS , are grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and assembled by sequential transfer into vertical layered heterostructures (VLHs). Insulating hBN, also produced by CVD, is utilized to control the separation between WS and MoS by adjusting the layer number, leading to fine-scale tuning of the interlayer interactions within the VLHs. The interlayer interactions are studied by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and are demonstrated to be highly sensitive to the input excitation power.

Observation of the Marcus Inverted Region of Electron Transfer from Asymmetric Chemical Doping of Pristine (n,m) Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.

The concept of electrical energy generation based on asymmetric chemical doping of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) papers is presented. We explore 27 small, organic, electron-acceptor molecules that are shown to tune the output open-circuit voltage (V) across three types of pristine SWNT papers with varying (n,m) chirality distributions. A considerable enhancement in the observed V, from 80 to 440 mV, is observed for SWNT/molecule acceptor pairs that have molecular volume below 120 Å and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energies centered around -0.

Correction: Thermal dissociation of inter-layer excitons in MoS/MoSe hetero-bilayers.

Correction for 'Thermal dissociation of inter-layer excitons in MoS/MoSe hetero-bilayers' by Shinichiro Mouri et al., Nanoscale, 2017, DOI: 10.1039/c7nr01598d.

Thermal dissociation of inter-layer excitons in MoS/MoSe hetero-bilayers.

We describe photoluminescence (PL), PL excitation, and time-resolved PL spectroscopy of hetero-bilayers comprising monolayers (1L) of MoS and MoSe at cryogenic temperatures. A PL peak showing a decay time of 2.5 ns was observed below 100 K, which can be attributed to an inter-layer exciton emission in the 1L-MoS/1L-MoSe hetero-bilayers.

Evidence for Fast Interlayer Energy Transfer in MoSe2/WS2 Heterostructures.

Strongly bound excitons confined in two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are dipoles with a perfect in-plane orientation. In a vertical stack of semiconducting 2D crystals, such in-plane excitonic dipoles are expected to efficiently couple across van der Waals gap due to strong interlayer Coulomb interaction and exchange their energy. However, previous studies on heterobilayers of group 6 transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) found that the exciton decay dynamics is dominated by interlayer charge transfer (CT) processes.

Exciton-Plasmon Coupling and Electromagnetically Induced Transparency in Monolayer Semiconductors Hybridized with Ag Nanoparticles.

Exciton-plasmon coupling in hybrids of a monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide and Ag nanoparticles is investigated in the weak and strong coupling regimes. In the weak coupling regime, both absorption enhancement and the Purcell effect collectively modify the photoluminescence properties of the semiconductor. In the strong coupling regime, electromagnetically induced transparency dips are displayed, evidencing coherent energy exchange between excitons and plasmons.

Enhanced photovoltaic performances of graphene/Si solar cells by insertion of a MoS₂ thin film.

Transition-metal dichalcogenides exhibit great potential as active materials in optoelectronic devices because of their characteristic band structure. Here, we demonstrated that the photovoltaic performances of graphene/Si Schottky junction solar cells were significantly improved by inserting a chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown, large MoS2 thin-film layer. This layer functions as an effective electron-blocking/hole-transporting layer.

Considerably improved photovoltaic performance of carbon nanotube-based solar cells using metal oxide layers.

Carbon nanotube-based solar cells have been extensively studied from the perspective of potential application. Here we demonstrated a significant improvement of the carbon nanotube solar cells by the use of metal oxide layers for efficient carrier transport. The metal oxides also serve as an antireflection layer and an efficient carrier dopant, leading to a reduction in the loss of the incident solar light and an increase in the photocurrent, respectively.

Photocarrier relaxation pathway in two-dimensional semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides.

Two-dimensional crystals of semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides absorb a large fraction of incident photons in the visible frequencies despite being atomically thin. It has been suggested that the strong absorption is due to the parallel band or 'band nesting' effect and corresponding divergence in the joint density of states. Here, we use photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy to show that the band nesting in mono- and bilayer MX2 (M=Mo, W and X=S, Se) results in excitation-dependent characteristic relaxation pathways of the photoexcited carriers.

Two-dimensional array of particles originating from dipole-dipole interaction as evidenced by potential curve measurements at vertical oil/water interfaces.

We propose a new method to evaluate the interaction potential energy between the particles adsorbed at an oil/water interface as a function of interparticle distance. The method is based on the measurement of the interparticle distance at a vertical oil/water interface, at which the gravitational force is naturally applied to compress the particle monolayer in the in-plane direction. We verified the method by examining whether we obtained the same potential curve upon varying the gravitational acceleration by tilting the interface.