Two-dimensional chalcogenide nanoplates as tunable metamaterials via chemical intercalation

New plasmonic materials with tunable properties are in great need for nanophotonics and metamaterials applications. Here we present two-dimensional layered, metal chalcogenides as tunable metamaterials that feature both dielectric photonic and plasmonic modes across a wide spectral range from the infrared to ultraviolet. The anisotropic layered structure allows intercalation of organic molecules and metal atoms at the van der Waals gap of the host chalcogenide, presenting a chemical route to create heterostructures with molecular and atomic precision for photonic and plasmonic applications. This marks a departure from a lithographic method to create metamaterials. Monochromated electron energy-loss spectroscopy in a scanning transmission electron microscope was used to first establish the presence of the dielectric photonic and plasmonic modes in M2E3 (M = Bi, Sb; E = Se, Te) nanoplates and to observe marked changes in these modes after chemical intercalation. We show that these modal properties can also be tuned effectively by more conventional methods such as thickness control and alloy composition of the nanoplates.