Spin transport of indirect excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs coupled quantum wells was observed by measuring the spatially resolved circular polarization of exciton emission. Exciton spin transport over several microns originates from a long spin relaxation time and long lifetime of indirect excitons.
The exciton system in double quantum well is considered under condition when the ground state is the spatially indirect exciton. At high pumping growth of the exciton concentration can lead to so significant increase of the indirect exciton energy that becomes equal to the direct exciton energy. Then further increase of pumping leads to formation of mixed direct - indirect exciton phase. A rough estimate of the exciton energy in the mixed phase explains puzzling features of some recent exciton measurements. An experiment that would reveal main characteristic features of the mixed phase is sugg…
We present spatially- and spectrally-resolved photoluminescence measurements of indirect excitons in high magnetic fields. Long indirect exciton lifetimes give the opportunity to measure magnetoexciton transport by optical imaging. Indirect excitons formed from electrons and holes at zeroth Landau levels (0e - 0h indirect magnetoexcitons) travel over large distances and form a ring emission pattern around the excitation spot. In contrast, the spatial profiles of 1e - 1h and 2e - 2h indirect magnetoexciton emission closely follow the laser excitation profile. The 0e - 0h indirect magnetoexciton…
We report on spatially- and time-resolved emission measurements and observation of transport of indirect excitons in ZnO/MgZnO wide single quantum wells.
Spatially indirect excitons with displaced wavefunctions of electrons and holes play a pivotal role in a large portfolio of fascinating physical phenomena and emerging optoelectronic applications, such as valleytronics, exciton spin Hall effect, excitonic integrated circuit and high-temperature superfluidity. Here, we uncover three types of spatially indirect excitons (including their phonon replicas) and their quantum-confined Stark effects in hexagonal boron nitride encapsulated bilayer WSe2, by performing electric field-tunable photoluminescence measurements. Because of different out-of-pla…
We report on the principle and realization of an excitonic device: a ramp that directs the transport of indirect excitons down a potential energy gradient created by a perforated electrode at constant voltage. The device provides an experimental proof of principle for controlling exciton transport with electrode density gradients. We observed that the exciton transport distance along the ramp increases with increasing exciton density. This effect is explained in terms of disorder screening by repulsive exciton-exciton interactions.
We demonstrate experimental proof of principle for a stirring potential for indirect excitons. The azimuthal wavelength of this stirring potential is set by the electrode periodicity, the amplitude is controlled by the applied AC voltage, and the angular velocity is controlled by the AC frequency.
We propose a coherent control scheme based on the optical Stark effect in optically generated excitons in quantum dot molecules (QDMs). We show that, by the combined action of voltage bias detuning sweeps and Rosen-Zener pulsed interactions, it is possible to dynamically generate and modify an anticrossing gap that emerges between the dressed energy levels of long-lived, spatially indirect excitons. We perform numerical and analytic non-perturbative calculations based on the Bloch-Feshbach formalism, which demonstrate that this effect induces a mechanism of coherent population trapping of indi…
We present a concept and experimental proof of principle for split-gate devices for indirect excitons (IXs). The split-gate forms a narrow channel, a point contact, for IX current. Control of IX flow through the split-gate with both gate voltage and excitation power is demonstrated.
Indirect excitons (IXs) are bound pairs of electrons and holes confined in spatially separated layers. We present wide single quantum well (WSQW) heterostructures with high IX mobility, spectrally narrow IX emission, voltage-controllable IX energy, and long and voltage-controllable IX lifetime. This set of properties shows that WSQW heterostructures provide an advanced platform both for studying basic properties of IXs in low-disorder environments and for the development of high mobility excitonic devices.
Indirect excitons (IXs) in van der Waals transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) heterostructures are characterized by a high binding energy making them stable at room temperature and giving the opportunity for exploring fundamental phenomena in excitonic systems and developing excitonic devices operational at high temperatures. We present the observation of IXs at room temperature in van der Waals TMD heterostructures based on monolayers of MoS$_2$ separated by atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride. The IXs realized in the TMD heterostructure have lifetimes orders of magnitude longer than lif…
We investigated excitonic absorptions in GaAs/AlAs/GaAs single barrier heterostructure using both photocapacitance and photocurrent spectroscopies at room temperature. Photocapacitance spectra show well defined resonance peak of indirect excitons formed around the Gamma-AlAs barrier. Unlike DC-photocurrent spectra, frequency dependent photocapacitance spectra interestingly red shift, sharpen up and then decrease with increasing tunneling at higher biases. Such dissimilarities clearly point out that different exciton dynamics govern these two spectral measurements. We also argue why such quantu…
The objective of this work is to numerically integrate in space and time the effective-mass Schrodinger equation for an excitonic wave packet in a coupled quantum-well system under a time-dependent electric field. Taking as a starting point a time-dependent Hartree potential, we derive the nonlinear dynamical evolution of the excitonic wave function. We found that the system resonant condition can be modified owing to the reaction field generated by a charge dynamically trapped in the quantum-well pair. As a result, this study raises a broader question: is it possible to create an electrostati…
We calculate the binding energy, transition energies, oscillator strength, and absorption coefficient of indirect excitons in transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) double layers separated by an integer number of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) monolayers. The absorption factor, a dimensionless quantity which gives the fraction of incoming photons absorbed by the indirect excitons in the double layer, is evaluated. The aforementioned optical quantities are obtained for transitions from the ground state to the first two excited states. All quantities are studied as a function of the interlayer s…
We propose a scheme for the controllable preparation of a cold indirect exciton condensate using dipolaritonic setup with an optical pumping. Dipolaritons are bosonic quasiparticles which arise from the coupling between cavity photon (C), direct exciton (DX), and indirect exciton (IX) modes, and appear in a double quantum well embedded in a semiconductor microcavity. Controlling the detuning between modes of the system, the limiting cases of exciton-polaritons and indirect excitons can be realized. Our protocol relies on the initial preparation of an exciton polariton condensate for the far bl…
Ensembles of indirect or interlayer excitons (IXs) are intriguing systems to explore classical and quantum phases of interacting bosonic ensembles. IXs are composite bosons that feature enlarged lifetimes due to the reduced overlap of the electron-hole wave functions. We demonstrate electric Field control of indirect excitons in MoS2/WS2 hetero-bilayers embedded in a field effect structure with few-layer hexagonal boron nitrite as insulator and few-layer graphene as gate-electrodes. The different strength of the excitonic dipoles and a distinct temperature dependence identify the indirect exci…
We combine electron energy-loss spectroscopy and first-principles calculations based on density-functional theory (DFT) to identify the lowest indirect exciton state in the in-plane charge response of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) single crystals. This remarkably sharp mode forms a narrow pocket with a dispersion bandwidth of $\sim 100~\text{meV}$ and, as we argue based on a comparison to our DFT calculations, is predominantly polarized along the $Γ\text{K}$-direction of the hexagonal Brillouin zone. Our data support the recent report by Cassabois \emph{et al.} (Nat. Photon. \textbf{10}, 262)…
Indirect excitons (IX) in semiconductor heterostructures are bosons, which can cool below the temperature of quantum degeneracy and can be effectively controlled by voltage and light. IX quantum Bose gases and IX devices were explored in GaAs heterostructures where an IX range of existence is limited to low temperatures due to low IX binding energies. IXs in van der Waals transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) heterostructures are characterized by large binding energies giving the opportunity for exploring excitonic quantum gases and for creating excitonic devices at high temperatures. TMD hete…
We perform a $\mathbf{k \cdot p}$ theory analysis of the spectra of the lowest energy and excited states of the excitons in few-layer atomically thin films of InSe taking into account in-plane electric polarizability of the film and the influence of the encapsulation environment. For the thinner films, the lowest-energy state of the exciton is weakly indirect in momentum space, with its dispersion showing minima at a layer-number-dependent wave number, due to an inverted edge of a relatively flat topmost valence band branch of the InSe film spectrum and we compute the activation energy from th…
We have investigated indirect excitons in bulk $2H$-MoS$_2$ using transmission electron energy-loss spectroscopy. The electron energy-loss spectra were measured for various momentum transfer values parallel to the $Γ$K and $Γ$M directions of the Brillouin zone. The results allowed the identification of the indirect excitons between the valence band K$_{\mathrm{v}}$ and conduction band $Λ_{\mathrm{c}}$ points, the $Γ_{\mathrm{v}}$ and K$_{\mathrm{c}}$ points as well as adjacent K$_{\mathrm{v}}$ and K$^{\prime}_\textrm{c}$ points. The energy-momentum dispersions for the K$_{\mathrm{v}}$-$Λ_{\mat…
Electrons and holes residing on the opposing sides of an insulating barrier and experiencing an attractive Coulomb interaction can spontaneously form a coherent state known as an indirect exciton condensate. We study a trilayer system where the barrier is an antiferromagnetic insulator. The electrons and holes here additionally interact via interfacial coupling to the antiferromagnetic magnons. We show that by employing magnetically uncompensated interfaces, we can design the magnon-mediated interaction to be attractive or repulsive by varying the thickness of the antiferromagnetic insulator b…
Cascade spin dynamics of excitons localized in indirect-band-gap (In,Al)As/AlAs quantum dots with type-I band alignment
Ioffe Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences(俄罗斯科学院约费研究所);Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences(俄罗斯科学院西伯利亚分院拉扎诺夫半导体物理研究所)
The exciton recombination and spin dynamics in (In,Al)As/AlAs quantum dots (QDs) with indirect band gap and type-I band alignment are studied. The negligible (less than $0.2~μ$eV) value of the anisotropic exchange interaction in these QDs prevents a mixing of the excitonic basis states with pure spin and allows for the formation of spin polarized bright excitons for quasi-resonant circularly polarized excitation. In a longitudinal magnetic field, the recombination and spin dynamics of the excitons are controlled by the hyperfine interaction between the electron and nuclear spins. A QD blockade…
We present a theory of bilayer two-dimensional electron systems that host a spatially indirect exciton condensate when in thermal equilibrium. Equilibrium bilayer exciton condensates (BXCs) are expected to form when two nearby semiconductor layers are electrically isolated, and when the conduction band of one layer is brought close to degeneracy with the valence band of a nearby layer by varying bias or gate voltages. BXCs are characterized by spontaneous inter-layer phase coherence and counterflow superfluidity. The bilayer system we consider is composed of two transition metal dichalcogenide…
We study the eigenenergies and optical properties of both direct excitons in a phosphorene monolayer in different dielectric environments, and indirect excitons in heterostructures of phosphorene with hexagonal boron nitride. For these systems, we solve the 2D Schrödinger equation using the Rytova-Keldysh (RK) potential for direct, and both the RK and Coulomb potentials for indirect excitons. The results show that excitons formed from charge carriers with anisotropic effective mass exhibit enhanced (suppressed) optical absorption, compared to their 2D isotropic counterparts, under linearly pol…
Long lifetimes of spatially indirect excitons (IXs), also known as interlayer excitons, make possible long-range IX propagation. Van der Waals heterostructures composed of atomically thin layers of transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) give an opportunity to realize excitons with high binding energies and provide a materials platform for the realization of both excitonic quantum phenomena and excitonic devices. Propagation of IXs in TMD heterostructures is intensively studied. However, in spite of long IX lifetimes, orders of magnitude longer than lifetimes of spatially direct excitons (DXs)…
We present a microscopic theory of a photon drag effect that appears in a Bose-Einstein condensate of neutral particles, considering indirect excitons in a double quantum well nanostructure under the action of a circularly polarized electromagnetic field. It is shown that the dynamical polarization of excitons results in a resonant behavior of the exciton photon drag flux when the frequency of light is close to the gap between two energy levels of internal exciton motion. Specifically, we consider the ground and first excited energy states characterized by the angular momentum difference $\pm …
Monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) feature exceptional optical properties that are dominated by excitons, tightly bound electron-hole pairs. Forming van der Waals heterostructures by deterministically stacking individual monolayers allows to tune various properties via choice of materials and relative orientation of the layers. In these structures, a new type of exciton emerges, where electron and hole are spatially separated. These interlayer excitons allow exploration of many-body quantum phenomena and are ideally suited for valleytronic applications. Mostly, a basic mode…
We study a capacitor made of three monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) separated by hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN). We assume that the structure is symmetric with respect to the central layer plane. The symmetry includes the contacts: if the central layer is contacted by the negative electrode, both external layers are contacted by the positive one. As a result a strong enough voltage $V$ induces electron-hole dipoles (indirect excitons) pointing towards one of the external layers. Antiparallel dipoles attract each other at large distances. Thus, the dipoles alternate in the cen…
A supersolid, a counter-intuitive quantum state in which a rigid lattice of particles flows without resistance, has to date not been unambiguously realised. Here we reveal a supersolid ground state of excitons in a double-layer semiconductor heterostructure over a wide range of layer separations outside the focus of recent experiments. This supersolid conforms to the original Chester supersolid with one exciton per supersolid site, as distinct from the alternative version reported in cold-atom systems of a periodic modulation of the superfluid density. We provide the phase diagram augmented by…
An indirect exciton is a bound state of an electron and a hole in spatially separated layers. Two-dimensional indirect excitons can be created optically in heterostructures containing double quantum wells or atomically thin semiconductors. We study theoretically transmission of such bosonic quasiparticles through nano-constrictions. We show that quantum transport phenomena, e.g., conductance quantization, single-slit diffraction, two-slit interference, and the Talbot effect, are experimentally realizable in systems of indirect excitons. We discuss similarities and differences between these phe…
The variety of excitonic states in tungsten-based dichalcogenide monolayers stems from unique interplay between the spin and valley degrees of freedom. One of the exciton species is the indirect exciton (momentum or valley dark), which is responsible to a series of resonances when the monolayer is charge neutral. We investigate the short-range electron-hole exchange interaction of the indirect exciton, as well as its recombination mechanism mediated by impurities. The analysis provides thorough understanding of the energy and polarization of the zero-phonon indirect exciton resonance in the em…
Indirect excitons (IXs), also known as interlayer excitons, can form the medium for excitonic devices whose operation is based on controlled propagation of excitons. A proof of principle for excitonic devices was demonstrated in GaAs heterostructures where the operation of excitonic devices is limited to low temperatures. IXs in van der Waals transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) heterostructures are characterized by high binding energies making IXs robust at room temperature and offering an opportunity to create excitonic devices operating at high temperatures suitable for applications. Howev…