Deterministic quantum light emitters in DNA origami–engineered molecule–MoS<sub>2</sub> hybrids

Zhijie Li; Shen Zhao; Iuliia Melchakova; Elisabeth Erber; Christoph Sikeler; Kenji Watanabe; Takashi Taniguchi; Tim Liedl; Alexander Högele; Anvar S. Baimuratov; Irina V. Martynenko

doi:10.1038/s41377-026-02204-w

Your Location：

Home >

Browse articles >

Deterministic quantum light emitters in DNA origami–engineered molecule–MoS₂ hybrids

Original Articles

- Deterministic quantum light emitters in DNA origami–engineered molecule–MoS₂ hybrids
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 6, Pages: 1837-1847(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Faculty of Physics and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, 80539 Munich, Germany
  2.National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
  3.School of Physics and Engineering, ITMO University, St. Petersburg 197101, Russia
  4.Research Center for Electronic and Optical Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan
  5.Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan
  6.Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST), Schellingstraße 4, 80799 München, Germany
  7.Center for Engineering Physics, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Bolshoy Boulevard, 30, bld. 1, Moscow 121205, Russia
- Author bio：
  
  Shen Zhao (szhao@nju.edu.cn)
  Anvar S. Baimuratov (a.baimuratov@skoltech.ru)
  Irina V. Martynenko (i.martynenko@skoltech.ru)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02204-w
  CLC：
- Received：01 August 2025，
  
  Revised：2026-01-18，
  
  Accepted：21 January 2026，
  
  Online First：09 March 2026，
  
  Published：30 June 2026
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Li, Z. J. et al. Deterministic quantum light emitters in DNA origami–engineered molecule–MoS₂ hybrids. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1837-1847 (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41377-026-02204-w.
DOI：

Li, Z. J. et al. Deterministic quantum light emitters in DNA origami–engineered molecule–MoS₂ hybrids. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1837-1847 (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41377-026-02204-w. DOI：

摘要

Abstract

The functionalization of atomically-thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) with organic molecules is a promising approach for realizing nanoscale optoelectronic devices with tailored functionalities

such as quantum light gener

ation or

junctions. However

achieving precise control over the molecules' positioning on the 2D material remains a significant challenge. Here

we overcome the limitations of solution- and vapor-deposition methods and use a DNA origami placement technique to spatially arrange thiol molecules on a chip surface at the single-molecule level with high assembly yields. We successfully integrated MoS

monolayers with micron-scale thiol–origami patterns

creating quantum-emitting sites from thiol-induced localized excitons in MoS

. Our work lays a foundation for the chemical control of quantum emitters in atomically-thin semiconductors and enables the design and production of ultracompact 2D devices for quantum technologies.

关键词

Keywords

references

Sutula, M. et al. Large-scale optical characterization of solid-state quantum emitters. Nat. Mater. 22 , 1338–1344 (2023)..

Aharonovich, I., Englund, D. & Toth, M. Solid-state single-photon emitters. Nat. Photonics 10 , 631–641 (2016)..

Novoselov, K. S. et al. Two-dimensional atomic crystals. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102 , 10451–10453 (2005)..

Wang, Q. H. et al. Electronics and optoelectronics of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides . Nat. Nanotechnol. 7 , 699–712 (2012)..

de Vasconcellos, S. M. et al. Single-photon emitters in layered van der Waals materials. Phys. Status Solidi B 259 , 2100566 (2022)..

Sortino, L. et al. Bright single photon emitters with enhanced quantum efficiency in a two-dimensional semiconductor coupled with dielectric nano-antennas. Nat. Commun. 12 , 6063 (2021)..

Palacios-Berraquero, C. et al. Large-scale quantum-emitter arrays in atomically thin semiconductors. Nat. Commun. 8 , 15093 (2017)..

Branny, A. et al. Deterministic strain-induced arrays of quantum emitters in a two-dimensional semiconductor. Nat. Commun. 8 , 15053 (2017)..

Abramov, A. N. et al. Photoluminescence imaging of single photon emitters within nanoscale strain profiles in monolayer WSe 2 . Nat. Commun. 14 , 5737 (2023)..

Parto, K. et al. Defect and strain engineering of monolayer WSe 2 enables site-controlled single-photon emission up to 150 K. Nat. Commun. 12 , 3585 (2021)..

Klein, J. et al. Site-selectively generated photon emitters in monolayer MoS 2 via local helium ion irradiation. Nat. Commun. 10 , 2755 (2019)..

Yanev, E. S. et al. Programmable nanowrinkle-induced room-temperature exciton localization in monolayer WSe 2 . Nat. Commun. 15 , 1543 (2024)..

So, J. P. et al. Electrically driven strain-induced deterministic single-photon emitters in a van der Waals heterostructure. Sci. Adv. 7 , eabj3176 (2021)..

Barthelmi, K. et al. Atomistic defects as single-photon emitters in atomically thin MoS 2 . Appl. Phys. Lett. 117 , 070501 (2020)..

Piao, Y. et al. Brightening of carbon nanotube photoluminescence through the incorporation of sp 3 defects. Nat. Chem. 5 , 840–845 (2013)..

Ma, X. D. et al. Room-temperature single-photon generation from solitary dopants of carbon nanotubes. Nat. Nanotechnol. 10 , 671–675 (2015)..

Huang, Y. M. et al. Effects of organic molecules with different structures and absorption bandwidth on modulating photoresponse of MoS 2 photodetector. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 8 , 23362–23370 (2016)..

Huang, Y. et al. Van der Waals coupled organic molecules with monolayer MoS 2 for fast response photodetectors with gate-tunable responsivity. ACS Nano 12 , 4062–4073 (2018)..

Jariwala, D. et al. Hybrid, gate-tunable, van der Waals p–n heterojunctions from pentacene and MoS 2 . Nano Lett. 16 , 497–503 (2016)..

Chen, R. F. et al. Templating C 60 on MoS 2 nanosheets for 2D hybrid van der Waals p–n nanoheterojunctions. Chem. Mater. 28 , 4300–4306 (2016)..

Bettis Homan, S. et al. Ultrafast exciton dissociation and long-lived charge separation in a photovoltaic pentacene–MoS 2 van der Waals heterojunction. Nano Lett. 17 , 164–169 (2017)..

Kim, J. S. et al. Tunable volatile organic compounds sensor by using thiolated ligand conjugation on MoS 2 . Nano Lett. 14 , 5941–5947 (2014)..

Szalai, A. M. et al. Single-molecule dynamic structural biology with vertically arranged DNA on a fluorescence microscope. Nat. Methods 22 , 135–144 (2025)..

Li, B. L. et al. Hemin-functionalized MoS 2 nanosheets: enhanced peroxidase-like catalytic activity with a steady state in aqueous solution. RSC Adv. 4 , 24256–24262 (2014)..

Zhu, T. et al. Highly mobile charge-transfer excitons in two-dimensional WS 2 /tetracene heterostructures. Sci. Adv. 4 , eaao3104 (2018)..

Thompson, J. J. P. et al. Optical signatures of förster-induced energy transfer in organic/TMD heterostructures. npj 2D Mater. Appl. 7 , 69 (2023)..

Amani, M. et al. Near-unity photoluminescence quantum yield in MoS 2 . Science 350 , 1065–1068 (2015)..

Wang, S. Z. et al. Organic covalent modification to improve thermoelectric properties of TaS 2 . Nat. Commun. 13 , 4401 (2022)..

Varade, V. et al. Chiral light emission from a hybrid magnetic molecule–m onolayer transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructure. ACS Nano 17 , 2170–2181 (2023)..

Schmidt, H., Giustiniano, F. & Eda, G. Electronic transport properties of transition metal dichalcogenide field-effect devices: surface and interface effects. Chem. Soc. Rev. 44 , 7715–7736 (2015)..

Chen, X. et al. Covalent bisfunctionalization of two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 60 , 13484–13492 (2021)..

Wei, T. et al. Direct laser writing on graphene with unprecedented efficiency of covalent two-dimensional functionalization. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 142 , 21926–21931 (2020)..

Kollipara, P. S., Li, J. G. & Zheng, Y. B. Optical patterning of two-dimensional materials. Research 2020 , 6581250 (2020)..

Tan, X. et al. Laser doping of 2D material for precise energy band design. Nanoscale 15 , 9297–9303 (2023)..

Rothemund, P. W. K. Folding DNA to create nanoscale shapes and patterns. Nature 440 , 297–302 (2006)..

Douglas, S. M. et al. Self-assembly of DNA into nanoscale three-dimensional shapes. Nature 459 , 414–418 (2009)..

Seeman, N. C. DNA in a material world. Nature 421 , 427–431 (2003)..

Yan, H. et al. DNA-templated self-assembly of protein arrays and highly conductive nanowires. Science 301 , 1882–1884 (2003)..

Aldaye, F. A., Palmer, A. L. & Sleiman, H. F. Assembling materials with DNA as the guide. Science 321 , 1795–1799 (2008)..

Wang, P. F. et al. Magnetic plasmon networks programmed by molecular self-assembly. Adv. Mater. 31 , 1901364 (2019)..

Liu, X. G. et al. Complex silica composite nanomaterials templated with DNA origami. Nature 559 , 593–598 (2018)..

Sun, W. et al. Casting inorganic structures with DNA molds. Science 346 , 1258361 (2014)..

Maune, H. T. et a l. Self-assembly of carbon nanotubes into two-dimensional geometries using DNA origami templates. Nat. Nanotechnol. 5 , 61–66 (2010)..

Kuzyk, A. et al. DNA-based self-assembly of chiral plasmonic nanostructures with tailored optical response. Nature 483 ,311–314 (2012)..

Voigt, N. V. et al. Single-molecule chemical reactions on DNA origami. Nat. Nanotechnol. 5 , 200–203 (2010)..

Knudsen, J. B. et al. Routing of individual polymers in designed patterns. Nat. Nanotechnol. 10 , 892–898 (2015)..

Hartl, C. et al. Position accuracy of gold nanoparticles on DNA origami structures studied with small-angle X-ray scattering. Nano Lett. 18 , 2609–2615 (2018)..

Funke, J. J. & Dietz, H. Placing molecules with bohr radius resolution using DNA origami. Nat. Nanotechnol. 11 , 47–52 (2016)..

Kershner, R. J. et al. Placement and orientation of individual DNA shapes on lithographically patterned surfaces. Nat. Nanotechnol. 4 , 557–561 (2009)..

Hung, A. M. et al. Large-area spatially ordered arrays of gold nanoparticles directed by lithographically confined DNA origami. Nat. Nanotechnol. 5 , 121–126 (2010)..

Sikeler, C. et al. DNA origami-directed self-assembly of gold nanospheres for plasmonic metasurfaces. Adv. Funct. Mater. 34 , 2404766 (2024)..

Martynenko, I. V. et al. Site-directed placement of three-dimensional DNA origami. Nat. Nanotechnol. 18 , 1456–1462 (2023)..

Gopinath, A. et al. Engineering and mapping nanocavity emission via precision placement of DNA origami. Nature 535 , 401–405 (2016)..

Gopinath, A. et al. Absolute and arbitrary orientation of single-molecule shapes. Science 371 , eabd6179 (2021)..

Korlach, J. et al. Selective aluminum passivation for targeted immobilization of single DNA polymerase molecules in zero-mode waveguide nanostructures. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105 , 1176–1181 (2008)..

Beer, N. R. et al. On-chip, real-time, single-copy polymer ase chain reaction in picoliter droplets. Anal. Chem. 79 , 8471–8475 (2007)..

Simon, J. R. et al. Atomic-scale perspective on individual thiol-terminated molecules anchored to single S vacancies in MoS 2 . Phys. Rev. B 110 , 045407 (2024)..

Makarova, M., Okawa, Y. & Aono, M. Selective adsorption of thiol molecules at sulfur vacancies on MoS 2 (0001), followed by vacancy repair via S–C dissociation. J. Phys. Chem. C. 116 , 22411–22416 (2012)..

Zhang, M. et al. Super-resolved optical mapping of reactive sulfur-vacancies in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. ACS Nano 15 , 7168–7178 (2021)..

Gopinath, A. & Rothemund, P. W. K. Optimized assembly and covalent coupling of single-molecule DNA origami nanoarrays. ACS Nano 8 , 12030–12040 (2014)..

Douglas, S. M. et al. Rapid prototyping of 3D DNA-origami shapes with caDNAno. Nucleic Acids Res. 37 , 5001–5006 (2009)..

Kim, D. N. et al. Quantitative prediction of 3D solution shape and flexibility of nucleic acid nanostructures. Nucleic Acids Res. 40 , 2862–2868 (2012)..

Mak, K. F. et al. Atomically thin MoS 2 : a new direct-gap semiconductor. Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 , 136805 (2010)..

Neumann, A. et al. Signatures of defect-localized charged excitons in the photoluminescence of monolayer molybdenum disulfide. Phys. Rev. Mater. 2 , 124003 (2018)..

Mitterreiter, E. et al. The role of chalcogen vacancies for atomic defect emission in MoS 2 . Nat. Commun. 12 , 3822 (2021)..

Tonndorf, P. et al. Single-photon emission from localized excitons in an atomically thin semiconductor. Optica 2 , 347–352 (2015)..

Srivastava, A. et al. Optically active quantum dots in monolayer WSe 2 . Nat. Nanotechnol. 10 , 491–496 (2015)..

He, Y. M. et al. Single quantum emitters in monolayer semiconductors. Nat. Nanotechnol. 10 , 497–502 (2015)..

Koperski, M. et al. Single photon emitt ers in exfoliated WSe 2 structures. Nat. Nanotechnol. 10 , 503–506 (2015)..

Chakraborty, C. et al. Voltage-controlled quantum light from an atomically thin semiconductor. Nat. Nanotechnol. 10 , 507–511 (2015)..

Christopher, J. W., Goldberg, B. B. & Swan, A. K. Long tailed trions in monolayer MoS 2 : temperature dependent asymmetry and resulting red-shift of trion photoluminescence spectra. Sci. Rep. 7 , 14062 (2017)..

Tongay, S. et al. Thermally driven crossover from indirect toward direct bandgap in 2D semiconductors: MoSe 2 versus MoS 2 . Nano Lett. 12 , 5576–5580 (2012)..

Kirubasankar, B. et al. Atomic and structural modifications of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides for various advanced applications. Chem. Sci. 13 , 7707–7738 (2022)..

Mouri, S., Miyauchi, Y. & Matsuda, K. Tunable photoluminescence of monolayer MoS 2 via chemical doping. Nano Lett. 13 , 5944–5948 (2013)..

Sim, D. M. et al. Controlled doping of vacancy-containing few-layer MoS 2 via highly stable thiol-based molecular chemisorption. ACS Nano 9 , 12115–12123 (2015)..

Li, Z., Bretscher, H. & Rao, A. Chemical passivation of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides: strategies, mechanisms, and prospects for optoelectronic applications. Nanoscale 16 , 9728–9741 (2024)..

Lin, J. H., Pantelides, S. T. & Zhou, W. Vacancy-induced formation and growth of inversion domains in transition-metal dichalcogenide monolayer. ACS Nano 9 , 5189–5197 (2015)..

Liu, S. et al. Two-step flux synthesis of ultrapure transition-metal dichalcogenides. ACS Nano 17 , 16587–16596 (2023)..

Carbone, A. et al. Creation and microscopic origins of single-photon emitters in transition-metal dichalcogenides and hexagonal boron nitride. Appl. Phys. Rev. 12 , 031333 (2025)..

Zhao, Y. F. et al. Electrical spectroscopy of defect states and their hybridization in monolayer MoS 2 . Nat. Commun. 14 , 44 (2023)..

Loh, L. et al. Nb impurity-bound excitons as quantum emitters in monolayer WS 2 . Nat. Commun. 15 , 10035 (2024)..

Rivera, P. et al. Intrinsic donor-bound excitons in ultraclean monolayer semiconductors. Nat. Commun. 12 , 871 (2021)..

Betzig, E. & Trautman, J. K. Near-field optics: microscopy, spectroscopy, and surface modification beyond the diffraction limit. Science 257 , 189–195 (1992)..

Penzo, E. et al. Selective placement of DNA origami on substrates patterned by nanoimprint lithography. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 29 , 06F205 (2011)..

Shnitko, A. V. & Martynenko, I. V. DNA self-assembly on lithographic patterns: fabrication methods. Small Methods 4 , e01709 (2025)..

Shetty, R. M. et al. Bench-top fabrication of single-molecule nanoarrays by DNA origami placement. ACS Nano 15 , 11441–11450 (2021)..

He, X. et al. Carbon nanotubes as emerging quantum-light sources. Nat. Mater. 17 , 663–670 (2018)..

Li, X. Z. et al. Proximi ty-induced chiral quantum light generation in strain-engineered WSe 2 /NiPS 3 heterostructures. Nat. Mater. 22 , 1311–1316 (2023)..

Markeev, P. A. et al. Exciton dynamics in MoS 2 -pentacene and WSe 2 -pentacene heterojunctions. ACS Nano 16 , 16668–16676 (2022)..

Bilgin, I. et al. Resonant Raman and exciton coupling in high-quality single crystals of atomically thin molybdenum diselenide grown by vapor-phase chalcogenization. ACS Nano 12 , 740–750 (2018)..

Pizzocchero, F. et al. The hot pick-up technique for batch assembly of van der Waals heterostructures. Nat. Commun. 7 , 11894 (2016)..

Kresse, G. & Hafner, J. Ab initio molecular dynamics for liquid metals. Phys. Rev. B 47 , 558–561 (1993)..

Kresse, G. & Hafner, J. Ab initio molecular-dynamics simulation of the liquid-metal-amorphous-semiconductor transition in germanium. Phys. Rev. B 49 , 14251–14269 (1994)..

Kresse, G. & Furthmüller, J. Efficient iterative schemes for ab initio total-energy calculations using a plane- wave basis set. Phys. Rev. B 54 , 11169–11186 (1996)..

Hohenberg, P. & Kohn, W. Inhomogeneous electron gas. Phys. Rev. 136 , B864–B871 (1964)..

Kohn, W. & Sham, L. J. Self-consistent equations including exchange and correlation effects. Phys. Rev. 140 , A1133–A1138 (1965)..

Perdew, J. P., Burke, K. & Ernzerhof, M. Generalized gradient approximation made simple. Phys. Rev. Lett. 77 , 3865–3868 (1996)..

Views

Downloads

CSCD

Alert me when the article has been cited

Submit

Tools

Publicity Resources

Single-pulse lithography of amorphous photonic architectures inside all-inorganic dielectric crystals

Ultra-Low Efficiency Roll-Off High Color Purity Blue Perovskite Quantum Dot LEDs with Exceeding 20% Efficiency

Multicolor interband solitons in microcombs

Multifunctional ligand engineering for pure-blue halide perovskite nanocrystal LEDs

Phonon-polaritonic skyrmions: transition from bubble- to Néel-type

Related Author

No data

Related Institution

No data

⁰

Deterministic quantum light emitters in DNA origami–engineered molecule–MoS2 hybrids

DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02204-w

摘要

Abstract

关键词

Keywords

references

Deterministic quantum light emitters in DNA origami–engineered molecule–MoS₂ hybrids