Tailoring optical response of MXene thin films

Journal Article · Thu Apr 03 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Nanophotonics (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2024-0769· OSTI ID:3010319

Simon, Jeffrey ^[1]; Choi, Kyu Ri ^[2]; Ippolito, Stefano ^[3]; Prokopeva, Ludmila ^[1]; Fruhling, Colton ^[1]; Shalaev, Vladimir M. ^[1]; Kildishev, Alexander V. ^[1]; Gogotsi, Yury ^[3]; Boltasseva, Alexandra ^[1]

---

1. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (United States)
2. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (United States); Chungbuk National University (Korea, Republic of)
3. Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA (United States)

Due to their attractive optical properties, 2D MXenes have garnered interest in nanophotonic and optoelectronic applications. However, tuning their properties typically requires the iterative synthesis of MXenes with a specific set of properties, such as the absorption band position, electronic conductivity, and dielectric constant. We demonstrate how to tailor the optical properties of MXene thin films over a broad 1500-nm wavelength range by mixing different ratios of highly conductive Ti₃C₂T_x with poorly conductive Nb₂CT _x. By changing the MXene film composition, the epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) point, where the optical properties transit from dielectric to metallic, was varied in the spectral range from 1.1 to 2.6 µm. Additionally, we observed a reduction in absorption in some compositions compared to the absorption of the pure MXene films. Compared to other methods, this approach enables simple and continual tuning of MXene optical properties without requiring multiple time-consuming synthesis steps.

• Research Organization: Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Army Research Laboratory; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0017717
• OSTI ID: 3010319
• Journal Information: Nanophotonics (Online), Journal Name: Nanophotonics (Online) Journal Issue: 23 Vol. 14; ISSN 2192-8614
• Publisher: de Gruyter
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

2D materials
ENZ properties
MXenes
optical tunability
plasmonics
solution processing