Brobdingnagian photon bunching in cathodoluminescence of excitons in WS$_2$ monolayer

Abstract

Cathodoluminescence spectroscopy in conjunction with second-order auto-correlation measurements of $g_2(\tau)$ allows to extensively study the synchronization of quantum light sources in low-dimensional structures. Co-existing excitons in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers provide a great source of identical quantum emitters which can be simultaneously excited by an electron. In this article, we demonstrate large photon bunching with $g_2(0)$ up to $156\pm16$ of a tungsten disulfide monolayer, exhibiting a strong dependence on the electron-beam current density. To further improve the excitation synchronization and the electron-emitter interaction, we show exemplary that the careful selection of a simple and compact geometry -- a thin, monocrystalline gold nanodisk -- can be used to realize a record-high bunching $g_2(0)$ of up to $2152\pm236$. This approach to control the electron excitation of excitons in a \ce{WS2} monolayer allows for the synchronization of quantum emitters in an ensemble, which is important to further advance quantum information processing and computing technologies.