Novel nanostructures for guided mode resonance in tungsten disulphide

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have emerged as a versatile platform for next-generation photonic and optoelectronic devices due to their unique optical, electrical, and physical properties. In contrast to conventional bulk high–refractive-index dielectric materials, 2D materials offer strong light–matter interaction, excitonic effects, and tunability, opening new opportunities for nanophotonic device engineering. Among them, tungsten disulfide
(WS2 ), a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD), is an emerging semiconductor with significant potential for advanced device architectures owing to its excellent optical responseand compatibility with nanoscale fabrication techniques.

In this work, we explore the fabrication and optical characterization of one-dimensional grating nanostructures in WS2 as part of a master’s research project. WS2 flakes were prepared using mechanical exfoliation followed by dry transfer onto the target substrate. Electron-beam lithography (EBL) was employed to define periodic 1D grating patterns with varying periods. Optical measurements reveal clear resonant features, with a peak wavelength of approximately 742 nm and a quality factor (Q) of 46 for a grating period of 260 nm. These experimental results show good agreement with simulation.

The demonstrated WS2 grating structures highlight the potential of nanophotonic architectures based on 2D TMD for applications in optical sensing, integrated photonics, metasurfaces, and light–matter interaction engineering. More broadly, this work contributes to the growing field of 2D material based photonics, which leverages strong excitonic effects, nonlinear optical responses, high reflective index and low loss and nanoscale confinement to enable novel hybrid photonic devices across a wide spectral range