Nanocavity absorption enhancement for two-dimensional material monolayer systems.

Here we propose a strategy to enhance the light-matter interaction of two-dimensional (2D) material monolayers based on strong interference effect in planar nanocavities, and overcome the limitation between optical absorption and the atomically-thin thickness of 2D materials. By exploring the role of spacer layers with different thicknesses and refractive indices, we demonstrate that a nanocavity with an air spacer layer placed between a graphene monolayer and an aluminum reflector layer will enhance the exclusive absorption in the graphene monolayer effectively, which is particularly useful for the development of atomically-thin energy harvesting/conversion devices.