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Van der Waals waveguide quantum electrodynamics probed by infrared nano-photoluminescence

Nature Photonics volume 19, pages 833–839 (2025)Cite this article

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A Publisher Correction to this article was published on 21 July 2025

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Abstract

Atomically layered van der Waals (vdW) materials exhibit remarkable properties, including highly confined infrared waveguide modes and the capacity for infrared emission in the monolayer limit. Here we engineered structures that leverage both of these nano-optical functionalities. Specifically, we encased a photoluminescing atomic sheet of MoTe2 within two bulk crystals of WSe2, forming a vdW waveguide for the embedded light-emitting monolayer. The modified electromagnetic environment offered by the WSe2 waveguide alters MoTe2 spontaneous emission—a phenomenon we directly image with our interferometric nano-photoluminescence technique. We captured spatially oscillating nanoscale patterns prompted by spontaneous emission from MoTe2 into waveguide modes of WSe2 slabs. We quantify the resulting Purcell-enhanced emission rate within the framework of a waveguide quantum electrodynamics model, relating the MoTe2 spontaneous emission rate to the measured waveguide dispersion. Our work marks a substantial advance in the implementation of all-vdW quantum electrodynamics waveguides.

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Fig. 1: Hyperspectral nano-photoluminescence imaging in a WSe2/MoTe2/WSe2 waveguide heterostructure.
Fig. 2: Nano-PL and nano-IR dispersions for a WSe2/MoTe2/WSe2 waveguide.
Fig. 3: Understanding nano-PL profiles.
Fig. 4: Purcell analysis of WSe2/MoTe2/WSe2 waveguides.

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Data availability

Example raw nano-PL data and analysis code are provided on FigShare via https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.28644431.v1 (ref. 49). Further data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

Example codes used to process raw nano-PL data and calculate the Purcell factors have been provided in an online data repository49. Additional code is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Asenjo-Garcia for valuable discussion. Research on vdW waveguides at Columbia is supported as part of Programmable Quantum Materials, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences (BES), under award DE-SC0019443. Development of nano-optical imaging is supported by DoE-BES DE-SC0018426.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    S. L. Moore, M. A. Holbrook, J. Pack, C. R. Dean & D. N. Basov

  2. Department of Materials Science and Nanoengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA

    H. Y. Lee

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    H. Y. Lee, M. Ziffer, E. S. Yanev, T. P. Darlington, M. A. Holbrook, P. J. Schuck & J. Hone

  4. Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    N. Rivera

  5. Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Y. Karube, J. S. Owen, M. Delor & X. Y. Zhu

  6. Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    A. J. Sternbach

  7. Department of Physics, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    X. Xu

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Contributions

S.L.M. wrote the paper, performed the experiments, analysed the data and fabricated the heterostructures. H.Y.L. exfoliated the MoTe2 monolayers and guided the project. N.R. provided theoretical support for the data analysis. Y.K. performed the TRPL measurements. M.Z guided the TRPL measurements. E.S.Y. fabricated the template-stripped gold substrates. T.P.D. provided expertise for nano-PL measurements. A.J.S. provided guidance for the data analysis. M.A.H. synthesized the WSe2 and MoTe2 crystal. J.P. exfoliated the WSe2 crystal. X.X., X.Y.Z., J.S.O., M.D., P.J.S. and D.N.B. provided guidance for the project. C.R.D. and J.H. provided access to laboratory facilities.

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Correspondence to S. L. Moore.

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Supplementary Sections 1–10, Equations, Figs. 1–12, Table 1 and References.

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Moore, S.L., Lee, H.Y., Rivera, N. et al. Van der Waals waveguide quantum electrodynamics probed by infrared nano-photoluminescence. Nat. Photon. 19, 833–839 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-025-01694-1

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