Enhancing Light–Matter Interactions in MoS₂ by Copper Intercalation

The intercalation of layered compounds opens up a vast space of new host–guest hybrids, providing new routes for tuning the properties of materials. Here, it is shown that uniform and continuous layers of copper can be intercalated within the van der Waals gap of bulk MoS₂ resulting in a unique Cu–MoS₂ hybrid. The new Cu–MoS₂ hybrid, which remains semiconducting, possesses a unique plasmon resonance at an energy of ≈1eV, giving rise to enhanced optoelectronic activity. Compared with high-performance MoS₂ photodetectors, copper-enhanced devices are superior in their spectral response, which extends into the infrared, and also in their total responsivity, which exceeds 10⁴ A W⁻¹. The Cu–MoS₂ hybrids hold promise for supplanting current night-vision technology with compact, advanced multicolor night vision.