Engineering the Luminescence and Generation of Individual Defect Emitters in Atomically Thin MoS2

We demonstrate the on-demand creation and positioning of photon emitters in atomically thin MoS2 with very narrow ensemble broadening and negligible background luminescence. Focused helium-ion beam irradiation creates 100s to 1000s of such mono-typical emitters at specific positions in the MoS2 monolayers. Individually measured photon emitters show anti-bunching behavior with a g(2)(0) similar to 0.23 and 0.27. From a statistical analysis, we extract the creation yield of the He-ion induced photon emitters in MoS2 as a function of the exposed area, as well as the total yield of single emitters as a function of the number of He ions when single spots are irradiated by He ions. We reach probabilities as high as 18% for the generation of individual and spectrally clean photon emitters per irradiated single site. Our results firmly establish 2D materials as a platform for photon emitters with unprecedented control of position as well as photophysical properties owing to the all-interfacial nature.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates the on-demand creation and positioning of photon emitters in MoS2, showing anti-bunching behavior and high probabilities for clean photon emission. By using helium-ion irradiation, the research achieves the generation of photon emitters at specific positions, offering new methods for the yield and properties of photon emitters.