Laser Removal of Defects in a Dielectric for Modulating an Adjoining Atomically Two-Dimensional Material

A method for fabricating a device emitting light from hot electrons, the method comprising:

• providing a conductive layer that is a supply of a plurality of electrons;
• adjoining the conductive layer and an insulating layer, which presents a thin barrier allowing only the hot electrons out of the plurality of electrons to tunnel from the conductive layer through the thin barrier;
• adjoining the insulating layer and an atomically two-dimensional material having a band structure;
• adjoining the atomically two-dimensional material and a dielectric layer having a plurality of defects, wherein the dielectric layer is adapted to convey a variable electric field for modulating a wavelength of photons electronically emitted across the band structure of the atomically two-dimensional material;
• strobing a plurality of laser pulses into the dielectric layer with sufficient cumulative energy to remove a majority of the defects in the dielectric layer without altering the atomically two-dimensional material;
• and
• adjoining the dielectric layer and an electrode layer, which is adapted to apply the variable electric field via the dielectric layer to modulate the wavelength of the photons emitted when the hot electrons transition across the band structure of the atomically two-dimensional material.