Scalable Synthesis of 2D ErOCl with Sub-meV Narrow Emissions at Telecom Band

Van der Waals (vdWs) materials are promising candidates for hetero-integration with silicon photonics toward miniaturization and integration. VdWs materials like molybdenum telluride and black phosphorus, despite being prominent, exhibit air sensitivity, and their room temperature emissions can be significantly broadened by tens of meV. Here, a self-encapsulation strategy is developed to scalably synthesize robust 2D vdWs ErOCl with sub-meV narrow emissions at the telecom C-band. Diverse 2D rare earth materials are also grown via chemical vapor deposition (TmOCl, YbOCl, HoOCl, DyOCl, SmOCl, NdOCl, TbOCl, GdOCl, EuOCl, and PrOCl), demonstrating the strategy's generalizability. The as-grown ErOCl exhibits high crystalline quality and excellent ambient and thermal stability (300 °C). Photoluminescence analysis reveals a series of narrow emissions across the visible to near-infrared spectrum. The ErOCl's emission at the telecom band is narrowest among 2D luminescent materials, and suitable for integrating with photonic chips. Temperature-dependent photoluminescence spectra facilitate the understanding of emission mechanisms, analyzed using a crystal field perturbation model. Moreover, these emissions can be tuned by external magnetic fields. This research not only pioneers a novel strategy for synthesizing 2D rare earth materials but also paves the way for innovative building blocks in the realm of on-chip optical communications.