Topology-optimized dielectric cavities for enhanced excitonic light emission from WSe2
Abstract
Photonic inverse design and, especially, topology optimization, enable dielectric cavities with deeply sub-diffraction mode volumes and high quality factors, thus offering a powerful platform for enhanced light-matter coupling. Here, we design and fabricate arrays of CMOS-compatible silicon cavities on sapphire with extreme subwavelength transverse mode sizes of only 30–40 nm ( bfV∼ λ 3/2500 V ~ λ 3 / 2500 ). These cavities are engineered for deterministic coupling to a monolayer (or few-layer) excitonic material, producing strong near-field localization directly beneath the 2D material. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements show reproducible tenfold raw enhancement relative to bare silicon, which corresponds to a “per-area” normalized enhancement on the order of 10 ³ , accounting for the small area of the deeply subwavelength mode volume, consistent with numerical simulations that account for material absorption and fabrication tolerances. Furthermore, time-resolved PL measurements reveal pronounced lifetime shortening and non-exponential dynamics, indicating cavity-mediated exciton-exciton interactions. The optimized cavity geometry enhances the far-field collection efficiency and supports scalable integration with van der Waals semiconductors. Our results show that the arrays of topology-optimized dielectric cavities are a versatile, scalable platform for controlling excitonic emission and interactions, which creates new opportunities in nonlinear optics, optoelectronics, and quantum photonics.
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BibTeX
@article{matthiessen2026topologyoptimized,
title = {{Topology-optimized dielectric cavities for enhanced excitonic light emission from WSe2}},
author = {Owen Matthiessen and Brandon Triplett and Omer Yesilyurt and Davide Cassara and Karthik Pagadala and Morris M. Yang and Andres E. Llacsahuanga Allcca and Hamza Ather and Colton Fruhling and Abhishek Bharatbhai Solanki and Yong P. Chen and Hadiseh Alaeian and Alexander V. Kildishev and Vladimir M. Shalaev and Federico Capasso and Alexandra Boltasseva and Vahagn Mkhitaryan},
journal = {Light: Science \& Applications},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41377-026-02436-w},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41377-026-02436-w},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Topology-optimized dielectric cavities for enhanced excitonic light emission from WSe2
AU - Owen Matthiessen
AU - Brandon Triplett
AU - Omer Yesilyurt
AU - Davide Cassara
AU - Karthik Pagadala
AU - Morris M. Yang
AU - Andres E. Llacsahuanga Allcca
AU - Hamza Ather
AU - Colton Fruhling
AU - Abhishek Bharatbhai Solanki
AU - Yong P. Chen
AU - Hadiseh Alaeian
AU - Alexander V. Kildishev
AU - Vladimir M. Shalaev
AU - Federico Capasso
AU - Alexandra Boltasseva
AU - Vahagn Mkhitaryan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
JO - Light: Science & Applications
DO - 10.1038/s41377-026-02436-w
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41377-026-02436-w
AB - Photonic inverse design and, especially, topology optimization, enable dielectric cavities with deeply sub-diffraction mode volumes and high quality factors, thus offering a powerful platform for enhanced light-matter coupling. Here, we design and fabricate arrays of CMOS-compatible silicon cavities on sapphire with extreme subwavelength transverse mode sizes of only 30–40 nm ( bfV∼ λ ^3/2500 V ~ λ 3 / 2500 ). These cavities are engineered for deterministic coupling to a monolayer (or few-layer) excitonic material, producing strong near-field localization directly beneath the 2D material. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements show reproducible tenfold raw enhancement relative to bare silicon, which corresponds to a “per-area” normalized enhancement on the order of 10 ³ , accounting for the small area of the deeply subwavelength mode volume, consistent with numerical simulations that account for material absorption and fabrication tolerances. Furthermore, time-resolved PL measurements reveal pronounced lifetime shortening and non-exponential dynamics, indicating cavity-mediated exciton-exciton interactions. The optimized cavity geometry enhances the far-field collection efficiency and supports scalable integration with van der Waals semiconductors. Our results show that the arrays of topology-optimized dielectric cavities are a versatile, scalable platform for controlling excitonic emission and interactions, which creates new opportunities in nonlinear optics, optoelectronics, and quantum photonics.
SN - 2047-7538
ER -