  Effective integration of 2D materials such as monolayer transition metal
dichalcogenides (TMDs) into photonic waveguides and integrated circuits is
being intensely pursued due to the materials' strong exciton-based optical
response. Here, we present a platform where a WS$_{2}$-hBN 2D heterostructure
is directly integrated into the photonic mode-center of a novel polymer ridge
waveguide. FDTD simulations and collection of photoluminescence from the guided
mode indicate that this system exhibits significantly improved
waveguide-emitter coupling over a previous elastomer platform. This is
facilitated by the platform's enhanced refractive-index contrast and a new
method for mode-center integration of the coupled TMD. The integration is based
on a simple dry-transfer process that is applicable to other 2D materials, and
the platform's elastomeric nature is a natural fit to explore strain-tunable
hybrid-photonic devices. The demonstrated ability of coupling photoluminescence
to a polymer waveguide opens up new possibilities for hybrid-photonic systems
in a variety of contexts.
