The research activities aim at understanding a number of fundamental physical questions related to a) novel semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides, b) quantum optical properties of light emission from nanoemitters and nanolasers, and c) important device physical properties of such nanolasers based on monolayer semiconductors.

To this end, we are researching new active materials and material platforms, quantum-optical detection of laser emission and device concepts for efficient coupling and decoupling of light. Integrated semiconductor monolayers and nanoresonators are an ideal and very timely basis for this work.

Our consortium consists of three groups that can draw on complementary and worldwide proven expertise in the microscopic theory of 2D semiconductors interacting with quantized light fields (AG Jahnke, University of Bremen), the fabrication and characterization of nanolasers (AG Ning, Tsinghua University), and quantum optical spectroscopy on nanophotonic structures. The Chinese-German team is thus uniquely suited to comprehensively address the above-mentioned important questions. This will be demonstrated through close cooperation between material fabrication, component fabrication, experimental characterization and theoretical description.

From a fundamental research point of view, the expected results will significantly extend and strengthen our understanding of the light emission and gain properties of monolayer semiconductors, the nature of quantum coherence of corresponding nanoemitters and the threshold behavior and quantum coherence of nanolasers. In this context, we will in particular address the important question of how laser emission can be unambiguously detected in nanolasers with high beta-factors in the thresholdless regime. This fundamental regime is currently receiving the highest interest worldwide and is being investigated in a comprehensive way by means of quantum optical studies on photon statistics.

Our joint experimental and theoretical work will provide important insights into the emission processes of nanolasers, as we will continue to look at the full photon distribution function of nanolasers in addition to common methods. From a technological point of view, we expect that our research will lead to novel nanophotonic devices that will be used in information technology and photonic quantum technology in the future.