Formation of moiré interlayer excitons in space and time.

Moiré superlattices in atomically thin van der Waals heterostructures hold great promise for extended control of electronic and valleytronic lifetimes1-7, the confinement of excitons in artificial moiré lattices8-13 and the formation of exotic quantum phases14-18. Such moiré-induced emergent phenomena are particularly strong for interlayer excitons, where the hole and the electron are localized in different layers of the heterostructure19,20. To exploit the full potential of correlated moiré and exciton physics, a thorough understanding of the ultrafast interlayer exciton formation process and the real-space wavefunction confinement is indispensable. Here we show that femtosecond photoemission momentum microscopy provides quantitative access to these key properties of the moiré interlayer excitons. First, we elucidate that interlayer excitons are dominantly formed through femtosecond exciton-phonon scattering and subsequent charge transfer at the interlayer-hybridized Σ valleys. Second, we show that interlayer excitons exhibit a momentum fingerprint that is a direct hallmark of the superlattice moiré modification. Third, we reconstruct the wavefunction distribution of the electronic part of the exciton and compare the size with the real-space moiré superlattice. Our work provides direct access to interlayer exciton formation dynamics in space and time and reveals opportunities to study correlated moiré and exciton physics for the future realization of exotic quantum phases of matter.

Excitonic Thermalization Bottleneck in Twisted TMD Heterostructures.

Twisted van der Waals heterostructures show intriguing interface exciton physics, including hybridization effects and emergence of moiré potentials. Recent experiments have revealed that moiré-trapped excitons exhibit remarkable dynamics, where excited states show lifetimes that are several orders of magnitude longer than in monolayers. The origin of this behavior is still under debate. Based on a microscopic many-particle approach, we investigate the phonon-driven relaxation cascade of nonequilibrium moiré excitons in the exemplary MoSe2-WSe2 heterostructure. We track exciton relaxation pathways across different moiré mini-bands and identify the phonon-scattering channels assisting the spatial redistribution of excitons into low-energy pockets of the moiré potential. We unravel a phonon bottleneck in the flat band structure at low twist angles preventing excitons from fully thermalizing into the lowest state, explaining the measured enhanced emission intensity and lifetime of excited moiré excitons. Overall, our work provides important insights into exciton relaxation dynamics in flat-band exciton materials.

Trion Photoluminescence and Trion Stability in Atomically Thin Semiconductors.

The optical response of doped monolayer semiconductors is governed by trions, i.e. photoexcited electron-hole pairs bound to doping charges. While their photoluminescence (PL) signatures have been identified in experiments, a microscopic model consistently capturing bright and dark trion peaks is still lacking. In this work, we derive a generalized trion PL formula on a quantum-mechanical footing, considering direct and phonon-assisted recombination mechanisms. We show the trion energy landscape in WSe_{2} by solving the trion Schrödinger equation. We reveal that the mass imbalance between equal charges results in less stable trions exhibiting a small binding energy and, interestingly, a large energetic offset from exciton peaks in PL spectra. Furthermore, we compute the temperature-dependent PL spectra for n- and p-doped monolayers and predict yet unobserved signatures originating from trions with an electron at the Λ point. Our work presents an important step toward a microscopic understanding of the internal structure of trions determining their stability and optical fingerprint.

Bosonic Delocalization of Dipolar Moiré Excitons.

In superlattices of twisted semiconductor monolayers, tunable moiré potentials emerge, trapping excitons into periodic arrays. In particular, spatially separated interlayer excitons are subject to a deep potential landscape and they exhibit a permanent dipole providing a unique opportunity to study interacting bosonic lattices. Recent experiments have demonstrated density-dependent transport properties of moiré excitons, which could play a key role for technological applications. However, the intriguing interplay between exciton-exciton interactions and moiré trapping has not been well understood yet. In this work, we develop a microscopic theory of interacting excitons in external potentials allowing us to tackle this highly challenging problem. We find that interactions between moiré excitons lead to a delocalization at intermediate densities, and we show how this transition can be tuned via twist angle and temperature. The delocalization is accompanied by a modification of optical moiré resonances, which gradually merge into a single free exciton peak.

Fermi Pressure and Coulomb Repulsion Driven Rapid Hot Plasma Expansion in a van der Waals Heterostructure.

Transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures provide a versatile platform to explore electronic and excitonic phases. As the excitation density exceeds the critical Mott density, interlayer excitons are ionized into an electron-hole plasma phase. The transport of the highly non-equilibrium plasma is relevant for high-power optoelectronic devices but has not been carefully investigated previously. Here, we employ spatially resolved pump-probe microscopy to investigate the spatial-temporal dynamics of interlayer excitons and hot-plasma phase in a MoSe2/WSe2 twisted bilayer. At the excitation density of ∼1014 cm-2, well exceeding the Mott density, we find a surprisingly rapid initial expansion of hot plasma to a few microns away from the excitation source within ∼0.2 ps. Microscopic theory reveals that this rapid expansion is mainly driven by Fermi pressure and Coulomb repulsion, while the hot carrier effect has only a minor effect in the plasma phase.

Terahertz Fingerprint of Monolayer Wigner Crystals.

The strong Coulomb interaction in monolayer semiconductors represents a unique opportunity for the realization of Wigner crystals without external magnetic fields. In this work, we predict that the formation of monolayer Wigner crystals can be detected by their terahertz response spectrum, which exhibits a characteristic sequence of internal optical transitions. We apply the density matrix formalism to derive the internal quantum structure and the optical conductivity of the Wigner crystal and to microscopically analyze the multipeak shape of the obtained terahertz spectrum. Moreover, we predict a characteristic shift of the peak position as a function of charge density for different atomically thin materials and show how our results can be generalized to an arbitrary two-dimensional system.

Ultrafast Nanoscopy of High-Density Exciton Phases in WSe2.

The density-driven transition of an exciton gas into an electron-hole plasma remains a compelling question in condensed matter physics. In two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides, strongly bound excitons can undergo this phase change after transient injection of electron-hole pairs. Unfortunately, unavoidable nanoscale inhomogeneity in these materials has impeded quantitative investigation into this elusive transition. Here, we demonstrate how ultrafast polarization nanoscopy can capture the Mott transition through the density-dependent recombination dynamics of electron-hole pairs within a WSe2 homobilayer. For increasing carrier density, an initial monomolecular recombination of optically dark excitons transitions continuously into a bimolecular recombination of an unbound electron-hole plasma above 7 × 1012 cm-2. We resolve how the Mott transition modulates over nanometer length scales, directly evidencing the strong inhomogeneity in stacked monolayers. Our results demonstrate how ultrafast polarization nanoscopy could unveil the interplay of strong electronic correlations and interlayer coupling within a diverse range of stacked and twisted two-dimensional materials.

Momentum-Resolved Observation of Exciton Formation Dynamics in Monolayer WS2.

The dynamics of momentum-dark exciton formation in transition metal dichalcogenides is difficult to measure experimentally, as many momentum-indirect exciton states are not accessible to optical interband spectroscopy. Here, we combine a tunable pump, high-harmonic probe laser source with a 3D momentum imaging technique to map photoemitted electrons from monolayer WS2. This provides momentum-, energy- and time-resolved access to excited states on an ultrafast time scale. The high temporal resolution of the setup allows us to trace the early-stage exciton dynamics on its intrinsic time scale and observe the formation of a momentum-forbidden dark KΣ exciton a few tens of femtoseconds after optical excitation. By tuning the excitation energy, we manipulate the temporal evolution of the coherent excitonic polarization and observe its influence on the dark exciton formation. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with a fully microscopic theory, resolving the temporal and spectral dynamics of bright and dark excitons in WS2.

Nonclassical Exciton Diffusion in Monolayer WSe_{2}.

We experimentally demonstrate time-resolved exciton propagation in a monolayer semiconductor at cryogenic temperatures. Monitoring phonon-assisted recombination of dark states, we find a highly unusual case of exciton diffusion. While at 5 K the diffusivity is intrinsically limited by acoustic phonon scattering, we observe a pronounced decrease of the diffusion coefficient with increasing temperature, far below the activation threshold of higher-energy phonon modes. This behavior corresponds neither to well-known regimes of semiclassical free-particle transport nor to the thermally activated hopping in systems with strong localization. Its origin is discussed in the framework of both microscopic numerical and semiphenomenological analytical models illustrating the observed characteristics of nonclassical propagation. Challenging the established description of mobile excitons in monolayer semiconductors, these results open up avenues to study quantum transport phenomena for excitonic quasiparticles in atomically thin van der Waals materials and their heterostructures.

Tunable Phases of Moiré Excitons in van der Waals Heterostructures.

Stacking monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides into a heterostructure with a finite twist-angle gives rise to artificial moiré superlattices with a tunable periodicity. As a consequence, excitons experience a periodic potential, which can be exploited to tailor optoelectronic properties of these materials. Whereas recent experimental studies have confirmed twist-angle-dependent optical spectra, the microscopic origin of moiré exciton resonances has not been fully clarified yet. Here, we combine first-principles calculations with the excitonic density matrix formalism to study transitions between different moiré exciton phases and their impact on optical properties of the twisted MoSe2/WSe2 heterostructure. At angles smaller than 2°, we find flat, moiré-trapped states for inter- and intralayer excitons. This moiré exciton phase changes into completely delocalized states at 3°. We predict a linear and quadratic twist-angle dependence of excitonic resonances for the moiré-trapped and delocalized exciton phases, respectively.

Phonon-Assisted Photoluminescence from Indirect Excitons in Monolayers of Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides.

The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) shows a multitude of emission peaks below the bright exciton line, and not all of them have been explained yet. Here, we study the emission traces of phonon-assisted recombinations of indirect excitons. To this end, we develop a microscopic theory describing simultaneous exciton, phonon, and photon interaction and including consistent many-particle dephasing. We explain the drastically different PL below the bright exciton in tungsten- and molybdenum-based materials as the result of different configurations of bright and momentum-dark states. In good agreement with experiments, our calculations predict that WSe2 exhibits clearly visible low-temperature PL signals stemming from the phonon-assisted recombination of momentum-dark K-K' excitons.

Exciton Propagation and Halo Formation in Two-Dimensional Materials.

The interplay of optics, dynamics, and transport is crucial for the design of novel optoelectronic devices, such as photodetectors and solar cells. In this context, transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have received much attention. Here, strongly bound excitons dominate optical excitation, carrier dynamics, and diffusion processes. While the first two have been intensively studied, there is a lack of fundamental understanding of nonequilibrium phenomena associated with exciton transport that is of central importance (e.g., for high-efficiency light harvesting). In this work, we provide microscopic insights into the interplay of exciton propagation and many-particle interactions in TMDs. On the basis of a fully quantum mechanical approach and in excellent agreement with photoluminescence measurements, we show that Auger recombination and emission of hot phonons act as a heating mechanism giving rise to strong spatial gradients in excitonic temperature. The resulting thermal drift leads to an unconventional exciton diffusion characterized by spatial exciton halos.

Optical fingerprint of bright and dark localized excitonic states in atomically thin 2D materials.

Point defects, local strain or impurities can crucially impact the optical response of atomically thin two-dimensional materials as they offer trapping potentials for excitons. These trapped excitons appear in photoluminescence spectra as new resonances below the bright exciton that can even be exploited for single photon emission. While large progress has been made in deterministically introducing defects, only little is known about their impact on the optical fingerprint of 2D materials. Here, based on a microscopic approach we reveal direct signatures of localized bright excitonic states as well as indirect phonon-assisted side bands of localized momentum-dark excitons. The visibility of localized excitons strongly depends on temperature and disorder potential width. This results in different regimes, where either the bright or dark localized states are dominant in optical spectra. We trace back this behavior to an interplay between disorder-induced exciton capture and intervalley exciton-phonon scattering processes.

Dielectric Engineering of Electronic Correlations in a van der Waals Heterostructure.

Heterostructures of van der Waals bonded layered materials offer unique means to tailor dielectric screening with atomic-layer precision, opening a fertile field of fundamental research. The optical analyses used so far have relied on interband spectroscopy. Here we demonstrate how a capping layer of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) renormalizes the internal structure of excitons in a WSe2 monolayer using intraband transitions. Ultrabroadband terahertz probes sensitively map out the full complex-valued mid-infrared conductivity of the heterostructure after optical injection of 1s A excitons. This approach allows us to trace the energies and line widths of the atom-like 1s-2p transition of optically bright and dark excitons as well as the densities of these quasiparticles. The excitonic resonance red shifts and narrows in the WSe2/hBN heterostructure compared to the bare monolayer. Furthermore, the ultrafast temporal evolution of the mid-infrared response function evidences the formation of optically dark excitons from an initial bright population. Our results provide key insight into the effect of nonlocal screening on electron-hole correlations and open new possibilities of dielectric engineering of van der Waals heterostructures.

Publisher's Note: Symmetry-Breaking Supercollisions in Landau-Quantized Graphene [Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 067405 (2017)].

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.067405.

Symmetry-Breaking Supercollisions in Landau-Quantized Graphene.

Recent pump-probe experiments performed on graphene in a perpendicular magnetic field have revealed carrier relaxation times ranging from picoseconds to nanoseconds depending on the quality of the sample. To explain this surprising behavior, we propose a novel symmetry-breaking defect-assisted relaxation channel. This enables scattering of electrons with single out-of-plane phonons, which drastically accelerate the carrier scattering time in low-quality samples. The gained insights provide a strategy for tuning the carrier relaxation time in graphene and related materials by orders of magnitude.

Polaron-induced changes in moiré exciton propagation in twisted van der Waals heterostructures.

Twisted transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) present an intriguing platform for exploring excitons and their transport properties. By introducing a twist angle, a moiré superlattice forms, providing a spatially dependent exciton energy landscape. Based on a microscopic many-particle theory, we investigate in this work polaron-induced changes in exciton transport properties in the exemplary MoSe2/WSe2 heterostructure. We demonstrate that polaron formation and the associated enhancement of the moiré exciton mass lead to a significant band flattening. As a result, the moiré inter-cell tunneling and the propagation velocity undergo noticeable temperature and twist-angle dependent changes. We predict a reduction of the hopping strength ranging from 80% at a twist angle of 1° to 30% at 3° at room temperature. The provided microscopic insights into the spatio-temporal exciton dynamics in presence of a moiré potential further expand the possibilities to tune charge and energy transport in 2D materials.

Electrically tunable layer-hybridized trions in doped WSe2 bilayers.

Doped van der Waals heterostructures host layer-hybridized trions, i.e. charged excitons with layer-delocalized constituents holding promise for highly controllable optoelectronics. Combining a microscopic theory with photoluminescence (PL) experiments, we demonstrate the electrical tunability of the trion energy landscape in naturally stacked WSe2 bilayers. We show that an out-of-plane electric field modifies the energetic ordering of the lowest lying trion states, which consist of layer-hybridized Λ -point electrons and layer-localized K-point holes. At small fields, intralayer-like trions yield distinct PL signatures in opposite doping regimes characterized by weak Stark shifts in both cases. Above a doping-asymmetric critical field, interlayer-like species are energetically favored and produce PL peaks with a pronounced Stark red-shift and a counter-intuitively large intensity arising from efficient phonon-assisted recombination. Our work presents an important step forward in the microscopic understanding of layer-hybridized trions in van der Waals heterostructures and paves the way towards optoelectronic applications based on electrically controllable atomically-thin semiconductors.

Moiré-engineered light-matter interactions in MoS2/WSe2 heterobilayers at room temperature.

Moiré superlattices in van der Waals heterostructures represent a highly tunable quantum system, attracting substantial interest in both many-body physics and device applications. However, the influence of the moiré potential on light-matter interactions at room temperature has remained largely unexplored. In our study, we demonstrate that the moiré potential in MoS2/WSe2 heterobilayers facilitates the localization of interlayer exciton (IX) at room temperature. By performing reflection contrast spectroscopy, we demonstrate the importance of atomic reconstruction in modifying intralayer excitons, supported by the atomic force microscopy experiment. When decreasing the twist angle, we observe that the IX lifetime becomes longer and light emission gets enhanced, indicating that non-radiative decay channels such as defects are suppressed by the moiré potential. Moreover, through the integration of moiré superlattices with silicon single-mode cavities, we find that the devices employing moiré-trapped IXs exhibit a significantly lower threshold, one order of magnitude smaller compared to the device utilizing delocalized IXs. These findings not only encourage the exploration of many-body physics in moiré superlattices at elevated temperatures but also pave the way for leveraging these artificial quantum materials in photonic and optoelectronic applications.

Probing electron-hole Coulomb correlations in the exciton landscape of a twisted semiconductor heterostructure.

In two-dimensional semiconductors, cooperative and correlated interactions determine the material's excitonic properties and can even lead to the creation of correlated states of matter. Here, we study the fundamental two-particle correlated exciton state formed by the Coulomb interaction between single-particle holes and electrons. We find that the ultrafast transfer of an exciton's hole across a type II band-aligned semiconductor heterostructure leads to an unexpected sub-200-femtosecond upshift of the single-particle energy of the electron being photoemitted from the two-particle exciton state. While energy relaxation usually leads to an energetic downshift of the spectroscopic signature, we show that this upshift is a clear fingerprint of the correlated interaction of the electron and hole parts of the exciton. In this way, time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy is straightforwardly established as a powerful method to access electron-hole correlations and cooperative behavior in quantum materials. Our work highlights this capability and motivates the future study of optically inaccessible correlated excitonic and electronic states of matter.