Gate-Tunable Plasmon-Enhanced Photodetection in a Monolayer MoS2 Phototransistor with Ultrahigh Photoresponsivity

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), direct bandgap materials with an atomically thin nature, are promising materials for electronics and photonics, especially at highly scaled lateral dimensions. However, the characteristically low total absorption of photons in the monolayer TMD has become a challenge in the access to and realization of monolayer TMD-based high-performance optoelectronic functionalities and devices. Here, we demonstrate gate-tunable plasmonic phototransistors (photoFETs) that consist of monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) photoFETs integrated with the two-dimensional plasmonic crystals. The plasmonic photoFET has an ultrahigh photoresponsivity of 2.7 x 10(4) AW(-1), achieving a 7.2-fold enhancement in the photocurrent compared to pristine photoFETs. This benefits predominately from the combination of the enhancement of the photon-absorption-rate via the strongly localized-electromagnetic-field and the gate-tunable plasmon-induced photocarrier-generation-rate in the monolayer MoS2. These results demonstrate a systematic methodology for designing ultrathin plasmon-enhanced photodetectors based on monolayer TMDs for next-generation ultracompact optoelectronic devices in the trans-Moore era.

Automated summary

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides have low total absorption of photons, hindering the realization of high-performance optoelectronic functionalities. Gate-tunable plasmonic photoFETs show potential for enhancing photoresponsivity and photocurrent in monolayer MoS2, providing a systematic methodology for designing ultrathin plasmon-enhanced photodetectors for future compact optoelectronic devices.