Infrared photodetectors are crucial for a broad range of emerging optical applications. Type-II band alignment in two-dimensional (2D) heterostructures whose constituent layers possess visible-range bandgaps enables sub-bandgap infrared photoresponse via interlayer optical transitions. However, the responsivity of such devices remains limited by intrinsically weak optical absorption associated with interlayer transitions. Here, we demonstrate an interlayer-absorption avalanche photodiode based on a WSe2/MoS2 heterostructure, harnessing avalanche multiplication to overcome the weak interlayer absorption. Sub-bandgap infrared illumination (1,064 nm) generates photocurrent through interlayer absorption within the heterostructure, while avalanche multiplication is induced in an adjacent WSe2 region. As a result, the device exhibits a 63-fold enhancement in responsivity, reaching 1 mA/W. These results establish avalanche multiplication as an effective internal-gain mechanism for interlayer-absorption photodetectors, highlighting a scalable route toward sensitive infrared detection using 2D semiconductor platforms.

Two-dimensional transition metal chalcogenides (2D-TMCs) are promising materials with unique optical and electrical properties compared to bulk materials. Although the exfoliated/CVD-growth 2D-TMCs have superior properties, they have a limitation for wafer-scale processes and applications in integrated circuits (ICs). Herein, we report the fabrication of wafer-scale 2D hybridized tin chalcogenide (SnSx) on a germanium (Ge) substrate using an atomic layer deposition process, followed by a thermal annealing process to form 2D-SnSx. 2D-SnSx consists of a hybrid structure of parallel 2D-SnS2 and tilted SnS on a Ge (1 0 0) substrate, enabling bandgap lowering and intrinsically p-type doping. As a result, our broadband photodiode with a p-SnSx/n-Ge heterostructure showed a specific responsivity of 0.41 and 0.24 A/W at wavelengths 532 and 1550 nm, respectively. This work demonstrates the potential for wafer-scale 2D-TMC-based facile ICs on the Ge substrate.

Single-photon emitters (SPEs) hold the key to many quantum technologies including quantum computing. In particular, developing a scalable array of identical SPEs can play an important role in preparing single photons - crucial resources for computation - at a high rate, allowing to improve the computational capacity. Recently, different types of SPEs have been found in various 2D materials. Towards realizing scalable SPE arrays in 2D materials for quantum computation, it is required to develop tunable SPEs that can produce identical photons by precisely controlling emission properties. Here, we present a brief review of the recent progress on various tuning methods in different 2D materials. Firstly, we discuss the operation principle of different 2D SPEs along with their unique characteristics. Secondly, we introduce various dynamic strain engineering methods for tuning the emission wavelengths in 2D SPEs. We also present several electric field-induced wavelength tuning methods for 2D SPEs. Lastly, we discuss the outlook of dynamically tunable 2D SPEs towards scalable 2D SPE arrays for realizing practical quantum photonics applications.

Near infrared (NIR) photodetectors (PDs) have attracted great attention for their applications in the field of optical telecommunication.

We present a strain engineering platform that allows the dynamic tuning of the emission wavelength of a monolayer WSe2. A large and localized strain was induced in monolayer 2D materials by patterning a photoresist layer with internal stress into two elliptical shapes with a finite gap in between, which is referred to as a dimer in this work. By applying laser annealing on the dimer stressor while monitoring the exciton emission, we demonstrate the capability to dynamically tune the emission wavelength of the bright exciton in the monolayer WSe2.

The technology to develop a large number of identical coherent light sources on an integrated photonics platform holds the key to the realization of scalable optical and quantum photonic circuits. Herein, a scalable technique is presented to produce identical on-chip lasers by dynamically controlled strain engineering. By using localized laser annealing that can control the strain in the laser gain medium, the emission wavelengths of several GeSn one-dimensional photonic crystal nanobeam lasers are precisely matched whose initial emission wavelengths are significantly varied. The method changes the GeSn crystal structure in a region far away from the gain medium by inducing Sn segregation in a dynamically controllable manner, enabling the emission wavelength tuning of more than 10 nm without degrading the laser emission properties such as intensity and linewidth. The authors believe that the work presents a new possibility to scale up the number of identical light sources for the realization of large-scale photonic-integrated circuits.

Silicon (Si) nanowire (NW) array is a promising light‐trapping platform due to the strong interaction between light and nanostructure. A photodetector benefits from the improved optical absorption in the Si NW array. Although the optical absorption increases with the NW length, the large NW length is not always preferable owing to the large surface area. Herein, the systematic study on the Si NW array photodetectors with varied NW lengths is investigated. It is revealed that the photodetectors with 1 µm length provide a highest responsivity of 0.65 A W −1 and a specific detectivity of 1.40 × 10 9 cm Hz 1/2 W −1 at the wavelength of 1000 nm, including the dark current of 54 µA at 1 V. In addition, the silicon oxide (SiO x ) surface passivation is introduced to induce the high photogain. As a result, the responsivity is improved by 13 times (0.55 A W −1 ) at 1100 nm. This work proposes high‐efficiency Si NW array photodetectors by the NW array length control and the SiO x surface passivation.

Tensile strained GeSn alloys are considered a key enabler for the realization of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor laser sources. However, the tensile strained GeSn lasers reported to date require complex fabrication processes for applying tensile strain in GeSn, preventing tensile GeSn lasers from becoming the mainstream technology for integrated photonics. Here, a unique strain engineering method is presented that can introduce a uniform tensile strain in GeSn lasers by harnessing a widely developed atomic layer deposition (ALD) process. 1D photonic crystal nanobeam lasers under homogenous tensile strain induced by an ALD HfO2 all-around stressor layer show a single-mode lasing peak with a approximate to 31 nm redshift and approximate to 2 times intensity increase. The lasing threshold of tensile strained GeSn lasers is approximate to 12% improved compared to the unstrained GeSn lasers. It is believed that the approach offers a new path toward the realization of practical group-IV laser sources for photonic-integrated circuits.

Despite having achieved drastically improved lasing characteristics by harnessing tensile strain, the current methods of introducing a sizable tensile strain into GeSn lasers require complex fabrication processes, thus reducing the viability of the lasers for practical applications. The geometric strain amplification is a simple technique that can concentrate residual and small tensile strain into localized and large tensile strain. However, the technique is not suitable for GeSn due to the intrinsic compressive strain introduced during the conventional epitaxial growth. In this Letter, we demonstrate the geometrical strain amplification in GeSn by employing a tensile strained GeSn-on-insulator (GeSnOI) substrate. This work offers exciting opportunities in developing practical wavelength-tunable lasers for realizing fully integrated photonic circuits.

The photonics-based approach has recently become a strong candidate for realising a large-scale, practical quantum processor. Particularly in recent years, two-dimensional (2D) materials have become a strong candidate for developing an ideal integrated light source owing to their several unique advantages such as convenient on-chip integration. In this work, we study the effect of strain on the emission wavelength and carrier lifetime. We first show that the geometry of stressors can adjust the amount of strain and emission wavelength. Using this strain engineering technique, we demonstrate that the emission wavelength can be significantly shifted by ~10 nm while the carrier lifetime can also be engineered by ~30 %.

We report broadband ultrafast photoluminescence from graphene ranging from visible to telecom wavelengths. We show strongly modified emission spectra owing to the presence of the cavity effect and demonstrate improved thermal stability enabled by hBN.

Germanium (Ge) lateral p-i-n photodetectors with grating and hole-array structures were fabricated on a Ge-on-insulator (GOI) platform. Owing to the low threading dislocation density (TDD) in the transferred Ge layer, a low dark current of 0.279 µA was achieved at -1 V. The grating structure enhances the optical absorption by guiding the lateral propagation of normal incident light, contributing to a 3× improved responsivity at 1,550 nm. Compared with the grating structure, the hole-array structure not only guides the lateral modes but also benefits the vertical resonance modes. A 4.5× higher responsivity of 0.188 A/W at 1,550 nm was achieved on the 260 nm Ge absorptive layer. In addition, both the grating and the hole-array structure attribute to a 2× and a 1.6× enhanced 3dB bandwidth at -5 V due to significantly reduced capacitance. The planar configuration of p-i-n photodiodes is favorable for large-scale monolithic integration. The incorporated surface structures offer promising approaches to reinforce the responsivity and bandwidth simultaneously, paving the way for the development of high-performance Ge photodetectors on silicon substrate.

In this work, the metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors were demonstrated on the Ge0.91Sn0.09-on-insulator (GeSnOI) platform. The responsivity was 0.24 and 0.06 A/W at wavelengths of 1,600 and 2,003 nm, respectively. Through a systematic study, it is revealed that the photodetectors can potentially detect wavelength beyond 2,200 nm. The dark current density was measured to be 4.6 A/cm2 for GeSnOI waveguide-shaped photodetectors. The 3 dB bandwidth was observed to be 1.26 and 0.81 GHz at 1,550 and 2,000 nm wavelengths, respectively. This work opens up an opportunity for low-cost 2 µm wavelength photodetection on the GeSn/Ge interface-free GeSnOI platform.

GeSn alloys have been regarded as a promising material for creating a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible light source. Despite the remarkable progress in demonstrating GeSn lasers, an unavoidable intrinsic compressive strain introduced during epitaxial growth has prevented researchers from pushing the directness of GeSn gain media to the limit and realizing practical GeSn lasers. In this paper, we demonstrate a GeSn-based 1D photonic crystal nanobeam laser on a high-quality GeSn-on-insulator (GeSnOI) substrate which allows releasing the limiting compressive strain, thus improving the threshold and operating temperature. Pump-power-dependent photoluminescence measurements show a lasing threshold density of 18.2 kW cm−2 at 4 K for the released strain-free GeSn nanobeam, which is ~2 times lower than that of the unreleased GeSn nanobeam with compressive strain. The improved bandgap directness in the released GeSn nanobeam also allows achieving lasing action at higher operating temperatures up to 90 K compared to the unreleased laser device (<70 K). We also report a straightforward geometric strain-inversion technique that harnesses the harmful compressive strain to achieve ultrahigh tensile strain in GeSnOI nanowire, drastically improving the directness of the bandstructure. We achieve ~2.67% uniaxial tensile strain in ~120 nm wide nanowires, surpassing other values reported thus far. We also demonstrate unique superlattices comprising of indirect and direct bandgap GeSn are demonstrated in a single material only by applying a periodic tensile strain. Increased directness in tensile-strained GeSn significantly enhances the photoluminescence intensity by a factor of ~2.5. Our demonstration offers an avenue toward developing practical CMOS compatible light sources.

Combining Sn alloying and tensile strain to Ge has emerged as the most promising engineering approach to create an efficient Si-compatible lasing medium. The residual compressive strain in GeSn has thus far made the simple geometrical strain amplification technique unsuitable for achieving tensile strained GeSn. Herein, by utilizing two unique techniques, we report the introduction of a uniaxial tensile strain directly into GeSn micro/nanostructures. By converting GeSn from indirect to direct bandgap material via tensile strain, we achieve a 10-fold increase in the light emission intensity.

Ultrafast light emission from monolayer graphene shows attractive potential for developing integrated light sources for next-generation graphene-based electronic-photonic integrated circuits. In particular, graphene light sources operating at the telecom wavelengths are highly desired for the implementation of graphene-based ultrahigh-speed optical communication. Currently, most of the studies on ultrafast light emission from graphene have been performed in the visible spectrum, while studies on ultrafast emission at the telecom wavelengths remain scarce. Here, we present experimental observations of strong ultrafast thermal emission at telecom wavelengths from wafer-scale monolayer graphene. Our results show that the emission spectra can be strongly modified by the presence of the cavity effect to produce an enhanced emission at telecom wavelengths. We corroborate our experimental results with simulations and show that by designing a suitable cavity thickness, one can easily tune the emission profile from visible to telecom wavelength regardless of the pump power. In addition, we demonstrate that the insertion of a monolayer of hexagonal boron nitride between graphene and the substrate helps improve the thermal stability of graphene, thereby providing more than five times enhancement of the ultrafast thermal emission. Our results provide a potential solution for stable on-chip nanoscale light sources with ultrahigh speed modulation.

A highly ordered microscale Ge inverted pyramid array is fabricated by HF-free metal-assisted chemical etching. Doping in the structure significantly modifies the reflection behavior in the mid-infrared region.

In this work, the metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors were demonstrated on the Ge 0.91 Sn 0.09 -on-insulator (GeSnOI) platform. The responsivity was 0.24 and 0.06 A/W at wavelengths of 1,600 and 2,003 nm, respectively. Through a systematic study, it is revealed that the photodetectors can potentially detect wavelength beyond 2,200 nm. The dark current density was measured to be 4.6 A/cm 2 for GeSnOI waveguide-shaped photodetectors. The 3 dB bandwidth was observed to be 1.26 and 0.81 GHz at 1,550 and 2,000 nm wavelengths, respectively. This work opens up an opportunity for low-cost 2 µm wavelength photodetection on the GeSn/Ge interface-free GeSnOI platform.

GeSn alloys are a promising emerging complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor compatible technology for applications in photonics and electronics. However, the unavoidable intrinsic compressive strain introduced during epitaxial growth has prevented researchers from pushing the performance of GeSn devices to the limit and realizing real-world applications. In this paper, we present a straightforward geometric strain-inversion technique that harnesses the harmful compressive strain to achieve beneficial tensile strain in GeSn nanowires, drastically increasing the directness of the band structure. We achieve ∼2.67% uniaxial tensile strain in ∼120 nm wide nanowires, surpassing other values reported thus far. Unique pseudo-superlattices comprising of indirect and direct bandgap GeSn are demonstrated in a single material only by applying a periodic tensile strain. Improved directness in tensile-strained GeSn significantly enhances the photoluminescence by a factor of ∼2.5. This work represents a way to develop scalable band-engineered GeSn nanowire devices with lithographic design flexibility. This technique can be potentially applied to any layer with an intrinsic compressive strain, creating opportunities for unique tensile strained materials with diverse electronic and photonic applications.

Nanotransfer printing techniques have attracted significant attention due to their outstanding simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and high throughput. However, conventional methods via a chemical medium hamper the efficient fabrication with large-area uniformity and rapid development of electronic and photonic devices. Herein, we report a direct chemisorption-assisted nanotransfer printing technique based on the nanoscale lower melting effect, which is an enabling technology for two- or three-dimensional nanostructures with feature sizes ranging from tens of nanometers up to a 6 in. wafer-scale. The method solves the major bottleneck (large-scale uniform metal catalysts with nanopatterns) encountered by metal-assisted chemical etching. It also achieves wafer-scale, uniform, and controllable nanostructures with extremely high aspect ratios. We further demonstrate excellent uniformity and high performance of the resultant devices by fabricating 100 photodetectors on a 6 in. Si wafer. Therefore, our method can create a viable route for next-generation, wafer-scale, uniformly ordered, and controllable nanofabrication, leading to significant advances in various applications, such as energy harvesting, quantum, electronic, and photonic devices.