Light–Matter Interaction Enhancement in Anisotropic 2D Black Phosphorus via Polarization-Tailoring Nano-Optics

Black phosphorus (bP), a two-dimensional (2D) layered material, has shown great potential for infrared (IR) optoelectronics owing to the narrow and direct bandgap it exhibits when in multilayer form. However, its thinness and optical anisotropy lead to weak light absorption, which limits the performance of bP-based photodetectors. In this work, we explore plasmonic nanoantennas, optical cavities, and their hybrids that can be integrated with multilayer bP to enhance its light absorption. This is achieved by near-field light intensity enhancement and polarization conversion. In addition, we demonstrate that these nanostructures can boost the spontaneous emission from bP. Light absorption enhancements of up to 185 and 16 times are obtained for linearly polarized and unpolarized IR light, respectively, in comparison with a commonly used device architecture (bP on SiO2/Si). Moreover, IR light emission enhancements of up to 18 times are achieved. The optical nanostructures presented here can be exploited for enhancing the detectivity of photodetectors and electroluminescence efficiency of light-emitting diodes based on bP and other 2D materials.