The manipulation of coupled quantum excitations is of fundamental importance in realizing novel photonic and optoelectronic devices. We use electroluminescence to probe plasmon-exciton coupling in hybrid structures each consisting of a nanoscale plasmonic tunnel junction and few-layer two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenide transferred onto the junction. The resulting hybrid states act as a novel dielectric environment to affect the radiative recombination of hot carriers in the plasmonic nanostructure. We determine the plexcitonic spectrum from the electroluminescence and find Rabi splittings exceeding 25 meV, near the onset of strong coupling. Our experimental findings are supported by electromagnetic simulations that enable us to explore systematically, and in detail, the emergence of plexciton polaritons as well as the polarization characteristics of their far-field emission. Electroluminescence modulated by plexciton coupling provides potential applications for engineering compact photonic devices with tunable optical and electrical properties.
Published : "arXiv Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics".