  The realization and control of polaritons is of paramount importance in the
prospect of novel photonic devices. Here, we investigate the emergence of
plasmon-exciton polaritons in hybrid structures consisting of a two-dimensional
(2D) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) deposited onto a metal substrate or
coating a metallic thin-film. We determine the polaritonic spectrum and show
that, in the former case, the addition of a top dielectric layer, and, in the
latter, the thickness of the metal film,can be used to tune and promote
plasmon-exciton interactions well within the strong coupling regime. Our
results demonstrate that Rabi splittings exceeding 100 meV can be readily
achieved in planar dielectric/TMDC/metal structures under ambient conditions.
We thus believe that this work provides a simple and intuitive picture to
tailor strong coupling in plexcitonics, with potential applications for
engineering compact photonic devices with tunable optical properties.
