Probing plexciton emission from 2D materials on gold nanotrenches

The unique exciton properties in 2D materials enable the creation of room-temperature-stable plexcitons in various plasmonic nanocavity configurations. However, previous systems often embedded 2D material within or beneath nanoantennas, making them inaccessible to near-field probes and leaving the nanoscale properties of plexciton emission largely unexplored. To overcome these limitations, we developed a novel platform where the 2D material is placed atop the nanotrench plasmonic antennas, allowing plexcitons to be formed directly at the surface which is fully accessible for the scanning probe techniques. Using this approach, we achieved unprecedented nanometric insights into the field distribution and emission (via photoluminescence) properties of plexcitons, with results that aligns with our theoretical modeling.