Probing and manipulating valley coherence of dark excitons in monolayer WSe$_2$
M. R. Molas, A. O. Slobodeniuk, T. Kazimierczuk, K. Nogajewski, M. Bartos, P. Kapuściński, K. Oreszczuk, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, C. Faugeras, P. Kossacki, D.… 展开作者
M. R. Molas, A. O. Slobodeniuk, T. Kazimierczuk, K. Nogajewski, M. Bartos, P. Kapuściński, K. Oreszczuk, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, C. Faugeras, P. Kossacki, D. M. Basko, M. Potemski
Monolayers of semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides are two-dimensional direct-gap systems which host tightly-bound excitons with an internal degree of freedom corresponding to the valley of the constituting carriers. Strong spin-orbit interaction and the resulting ordering of the spin-split subbands in the valence and conduction bands makes the lowest-lying excitons in WX$_2$ (X~being S or Se) spin-forbidden and optically dark. With polarization-resolved photoluminescence experiments performed on a WSe$_2$ monolayer encapsulated in a hexagonal boron nitride, we show how the intrinsic exchange interaction in combination with the applied in-plane and/or out-of-plane magnetic fields enables one to probe and manipulate the valley degree of freedom of the dark excitons.
The newly developed two-dimensional layered materials provide perfect platform for valley-spintronics exploration. To determine the prospect of utilizing the valley degree of freedom, it is of great importance to directly detect and understand the valley dynamics in these materials. Here, the exciton valley dynamics in monolayer WSe$_2$ is investigated by the two-color pump-probe magneto-optical Kerr technique. By tuning the probe photon energy in resonance with the free excitons and trions, the valley relaxation time of different excitonic states in monolayer WSe$_2$ is determined. Valley rel…
We investigate valley dynamics associated with trions in monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe2) using polarization resolved two-color pump-probe spectroscopy. When tuning the pump and probe energy across the trion resonance, distinct trion valley polarization dynamics are observed as a function of energy and attributed to the intra-valley and inter-valley trions in monolayer WSe2. We observe no decay of a near-unity valley polarization associated with the intra-valley trions during ~ 25 ps, while the valley polarization of the inter-valley trions exhibits a fast decay of ~ 4 ps. Furthermore, we …
We have systematically examined the circular polarization of monolayer WSe2 at different temperature, excitation energy and exciton density. The valley depolarization in WSe2 is experimentally confirmed to be governed by the intervalley electron-hole exchange interaction. More importantly, a non-monotonic dependence of valley circular polarization on the excitation power density has been observed, providing the experimental evidence for the non-monotonic dependence of exciton intervalley scattering rate on the excited exciton density. The physical origination of our experimental observations h…
Control and manipulation of single charges and their internal degrees of freedom, such as spins, is a fundamental goal of nanoscience with promising technological applications. Recently, atomically thin semiconductors such as WSe$_2$ have emerged as a platform for valleytronics, offering rich possibilities for optical, magnetic and electrical control of the valley index. While progress has been made in controlling valley index of ensemble of charge carriers, valley control of individual charges, crucial for valleytronics, remains unexplored. Here, we provide unambiguous evidence for localized …
Optical interband transitions in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides such as WSe2 and MoS2 are governed by chiral selection rules. This allows efficient optical initialization of an electron in a specific K-valley in momentum space. Here we probe the valley dynamics in monolayer WSe2 by monitoring the emission and polarization dynamics of the well separated neutral excitons (bound electron hole pairs) and charged excitons (trions) in photoluminescence. The neutral exciton photoluminescence intensity decay time is about 4ps, whereas the trion emission occurs over several tens of ps. The …
We report experimental observation of 2s exciton radiative emission from monolayer tungsten diselenide, enabled by hexagonal boron nitride protected high-quality samples. The 2s luminescence is highly robust and persists up to 150K, offering a new quantum entity for manipulating the valley degree of freedom. Remarkably, the 2s exciton displays superior valley polarization and coherence than 1s under similar experimental conditions. This observation provides evidence that the Coulomb-exchange-interaction-driven valley-depolarization process, the Maialle-Silva-Sham mechanism, plays an important …
Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenids (TMDs) feature valley degree of freedom, giant spin-orbit coupling and spin-valley locking. These exotic natures stimulate efforts of exploring the potential applications in conceptual spintronics, valleytronics and quantum computing. Among all the exotic directions, a long lifetime of spin and/or valley polarization is critical. The present valley dynamics studies concentrate on the band edge excitons which predominates the optical response due to the enhanced Coulomb interaction in two dimensions. The valley lifetime of free carriers remains in ambig…
Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) hold great promise for future information processing applications utilizing a combination of electron spin and valley pseudospin. This unique spin system has led to observation of the valley Zeeman effect in neutral and charged excitonic resonances under applied magnetic fields. However, reported values of the trion valley Zeeman splitting remain highly inconsistent across studies. Here, we utilize high quality hBN encapsulated monolayer WSe$_2$ to enable simultaneous measurement of both intervalley and intravalley trion photoluminescence. We f…
Exploiting the valley degree of freedom to store and manipulate information provides a novel paradigm for future electronics. A monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) with broken inversion symmetry possesses two degenerate yet inequivalent valleys, offering unique opportunities for valley control through helicity of light. Lifting the valley degeneracy by Zeeman splitting has been demonstrated recently, which may enable valley control by a magnetic field. However, the realized valley splitting is modest, (~ 0.2 meV/T). Here we show greatly enhanced valley spitting in monolayer WSe2, …
Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides, known for exhibiting strong excitonic resonances, constitute a very interesting and versatile platform for investigation of light-matter interactions. In this work we report on a strong coupling regime between excitons in monolayer WSe2 and photons confined in an open, voltage-tunable dielectric microcavity. The tunability of our system allows us to extend the exciton-polariton state over a wide energy range and, in particular, to bring the excitonic component of the lower polariton mode into resonance with other excitonic transitions in monolayer WS…
Local energy extrema of the bands in momentum space, or valleys, can endow electrons in solids with pseudo-spin in addition to real spin. In transition metal dichalcogenides this valley pseudo-spin, like real spin, is associated with a magnetic moment which underlies the valley-dependent circular dichroism that allows optical generation of valley polarization, intervalley quantum coherence, and the valley Hall effect. However, magnetic manipulation of valley pseudospin via this magnetic moment, analogous to what is possible with real spin, has not been shown before. Here we report observation …
The valley degree of freedom in layered transition-metal dichalcogenides (MX2) provides the opportunity to extend functionalities of novel spintronics and valleytronics devices. Due to spin splitting induced by spin-orbital coupling (SOC), the non-equilibrium charge carrier imbalance between two degenerate and inequivalent valleys to realize valley/spin polarization has been successfully demonstrated theoretically and supported by optical experiments. However, the generation of a valley/spin current by the valley polarization in MX2 remains elusive and a great challenge. Here, within an electr…
In crystals, energy band extrema in momentum space can be identified by their valley index. The internal quantum degree of freedom associated with valley pseudospin indices can act as a useful information carrier analogous to electronic charge or spin. Interest in valleytronics has been revived in recent years following the discovery of atomically thin materials such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides. However, the valley coherence time, a key quantity for manipulating the valley pseudospin, has never been measured in any material. In this work, we use a sequence of laser pulses …
The phenomenon originating from spin-orbit coupling (SOC) provides energy-efficient strategies for spin manipulation and device applications. The broken inversion symmetry interface and resulting electric field induce a Rashba-type spin-orbit field (SOF), which has been demonstrated to generate spin-orbit torque for data storage applications. In this study, we found that spin flipping can be achieved by the valley-Zeeman SOF in monolayer WSe2 at room temperature, which manifests as a negative magnetoresistance in the vertical spin valve. Quantum transmission calculations based on an effective …
We have experimentally studied the pump-probe Kerr rotation dynamics in WSe$_2$ monolayers. This yields a direct measurement of the exciton valley depolarization time $τ_v$. At T=4K, we find $τ_v\approx 6$ps, a fast relaxation time resulting from the strong electron-hole Coulomb exchange interaction in bright excitons. The exciton valley depolarization time decreases significantly when the lattice temperature increases with $τ_v$ being as short as 1.5ps at 125K. The temperature dependence is well explained by the developed theory taking into account the exchange interaction and a fast exciton …
Monolayer valley semiconductors, such as tungsten diselenide (WSe$_2$), possess valley pseudospin degrees of freedom that are optically addressable but degenerate in energy. Lifting the energy degeneracy by breaking time-reversal symmetry is vital for valley manipulation. This has been realized by directly applying magnetic fields or via pseudo-magnetic fields generated by intense circularly polarized optical pulses. However, sweeping large magnetic fields is impractical for devices, and the pseudo-magnetic fields are only effective in the presence of ultrafast laser pulses. The recent rise of…
Proximity orbital and spin-orbit effects of bilayer graphene on monolayer WSe$_2$ are investigated from first-principles. We find that the built-in electric field induces an orbital band gap of about 10 meV in bilayer graphene. Remarkably, the proximity spin-orbit splitting for holes is two orders of magnitude---the spin-orbit splitting of the valence band at K is about 2 meV---more than for electrons. Effectively, holes experience spin-valley locking due to the strong proximity of the lower graphene layer to WSe$_2$. However, applying an external transverse electric field of some 1 V/nm, coun…
In single-layer WSe$_2$, a paradigmatic semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenide, a circularly polarized laser field can selectively excite electronic transitions in one of the inequivalent $K^{\pm}$ valleys. Such selective valley population corresponds to a pseudospin polarization. This can be used as a degree of freedom in a valleytronic device provided that the time scale for its depolarization is sufficiently large. Yet, the mechanism behind the valley depolarization still remains heavily debated. Recent time-dependent Kerr experiments have provided an accurate way to visualize the v…
In atomically thin two-dimensional semiconductors such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), controlling the density and type of defects promises to be an effective approach for engineering light-matter interactions. We demonstrate that electron-beam irradiation is a simple tool for selectively introducing defect-bound exciton states associated with chalcogen vacancies in TMDs. Our first-principles calculations and time-resolved spectroscopy measurements of monolayer WSe2 reveal that these defect-bound excitons exhibit exceptional optical properties including a recombination lifetime app…
A monolayer of a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) such as WSe$_2$ is a two-dimensional (2D) direct band-gap valley-semiconductor having an effective Honeycomb lattice structure with broken inversion symmetry. The inequivalent valleys in the Brillouin zone could be selectively addressed using circularly-polarized light fields, suggesting the possibility for magneto-optical measurement and manipulation of the valley pseudospin degree of freedom. Here we report such experiments that demonstrate the valley Zeeman effect -- strongly anisotropic lifting of the degeneracy of the valley pseudospi…
Heavy metal-based two-dimensional van der Waals materials have a large, coupled spin and valley Hall effect (SVHE) that has potential use in spintronics and valleytronics. Optical measurements of the SVHE have largely been performed below 30 K and understanding of the SVHE-induced spin/valley polarizations that can be electrically generated is limited. Here, we study the SVHE in monolayer p-type tungsten diselenide (WSe2). Kerr rotation (KR) measurements show the spatial distribution of the SVHE at different temperatures, its persistence up to 160 K, and that it can be electrically modulated v…
We observe a set of three replica luminescent peaks at ~21.4 meV below the dark exciton, negative and positive dark trions (or exciton-polarons) in monolayer WSe2. The replica redshift energy matches the energy of the zone-center E"-mode optical phonons. The phonon replicas exhibit parallel gate dependence and same g-factors as the dark excitonic states, but follow the valley selection rules of the bright excitonic states. While the dark states exhibit out-of-plane transition dipole and valley-independent linearly polarized emission in the in-plane directions, their phonon replicas exhibit in-…
Coulomb interaction between electrons lies at the heart of magnetism in solids. In contrast to conventional two-dimensional (2D) systems, electrons in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) possess coupled spin and valley degrees of freedom by the spin-orbit interaction. The electrons are also strongly interacting even in the high-density regime because of the weak dielectric screening in two dimensions and a large band mass. The combination of these properties presents a unique platform for exploring spin and valley magnetism in 2D electron liquids. Here we report an observation by…
Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) heterostructure with a type II alignment hosts unique interlayer excitons with the possibility of spin-triplet and spin-singlet states. However, the associated spectroscopy signatures remain elusive, strongly hindering the understanding of the Moire potential modulation of the interlayer exciton. In this work, we unambiguously identify the spin-singlet and spin-triplet interlayer excitons in the WSe2/MoSe2 hetero-bilayer with a 60-degree twist angle through the gate- and magnetic field-dependent photoluminescence spectroscopy. Both the singlet and tripl…
Single-photon emitters play a key role in present and emerging quantum technologies. Several recent measurements have established monolayer WSe$_2$ as a promising candidate for a reliable single photon source. The origin and underlying microscopic processes have remained, however, largely elusive. We present a multi-scale tight-binding simulation for the optical spectra of WSe$_2$ under non-uniform strain and in the presence of point defects employing the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Strain locally shifts excitonic energy levels into the band gap where they overlap with localized intra-gap defect …
In monolayers of semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides, the light helicity ($σ^+$ or $σ^-$) is locked to the valley degree of freedom, leading to the possibility of optical initialization of distinct valley populations. However, an extremely rapid valley pseudospin relaxation (at the time scale of picoseconds) occurring for optically bright (electric-dipole active) excitons imposes some limitations on the development of opto-valleytronics. Here we show that inter-valley scattering of excitons can be significantly suppressed in a $\mathrm{WSe}_2$ monolayer, a direct-gap two-dimensiona…
Moiré superlattices provide a powerful way to engineer properties of electrons and excitons in two-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures. The moiré effect can be especially strong for interlayer excitons, where electrons and holes reside in different layers and can be addressed separately. In particular, it was recently proposed that the moiré superlattice potential not only localizes interlayer exciton states at different superlattice positions, but also hosts an emerging moiré quasi-angular momentum (QAM) that periodically switches the optical selection rules for interlayer excitons at …
Spin-valley 0.7 anomaly in bilayer graphene/WSe$_2$ quantum point contacts
Solid State Physics Laboratory, ETH Zürich(苏黎世联邦理工学院固态物理实验室);Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science(国立材料研究所材料纳米结构研究中心);Research Center for Electronic and Optical Materials, National Institute for Materials Science(国立材料研究所电子与光学材料研究中心);Department of Physics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev(内盖夫本-古里安大学物理系)
Monolayers and multilayers of semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) offer an ideal platform to explore valley-selective physics with promising applications in valleytronics and information processing. Here we manipulate the energetic degeneracy of the $\mathrm{K}^+$ and $\mathrm{K}^-$ valleys in few-layer TMDCs. We perform high-field magneto-reflectance spectroscopy on WSe$_2$, MoSe$_2$, and MoTe$_2$ crystals of thickness from monolayer to the bulk limit under magnetic fields up to 30 T applied perpendicular to the sample plane. Because of a strong spin-layer locking, the gro…
We present a comprehensive optical study of the excitonic Zeeman effects in transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers, which are discussed comparatively for selected materials: MoSe$_2$, WSe$_2$ and WS$_2$. We introduce a simple semi-phenomenological description of the magnetic field evolution of individual electronic states in fundamental sub-bands by considering three additive components: valley, spin and orbital terms. We corroborate the validity of the proposed description by inspecting the Zeeman-like splitting of neutral and charged excitonic resonances in absorption-type spectra. The v…
Large spin-orbital proximity effects have been predicted in graphene interfaced with a transition metal dichalcogenide layer. Whereas clear evidence for an enhanced spin-orbit coupling has been found at large carrier densities, the type of spin-orbit coupling and its relaxation mechanism remained unknown. We show for the first time an increased spin-orbit coupling close to the charge neutrality point in graphene, where topological states are expected to appear. Single layer graphene encapsulated between the transition metal dichalcogenide WSe$_2$ and hBN is found to exhibit exceptional quality…
Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides are promising materials for spintronics due to their robust spin-valley locked valence states, enabling efficient charge-to-spin conversion via valley Hall effect with non-equilibrium spins possessing long spin diffusion lengths of hundreds of nanometers. In this work, we show that the injection of a pure valley current, induced by valley Hall effect in a WSe2 monolayer, imparts a spin torque on the magnetization of an overlaid Fe or CoFe in a tunneling structure. The torque efficiency is found to be comparable to that in conventional perpendicular ma…
Contrasting $Γ$- and K-Valley Moiré Physics in Twisted Monolayer/Bilayer WSe$_2$
University of California, Los Angeles(加州大学洛杉矶分校);Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids(马克斯·普朗克固体化学物理研究所);University of Wisconsin-Madison(威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校);National Institute for Materials Science(国立材料研究所)
The recent experimental realization of a high quality WSe$% _{2} $ leads to the possibility of magneto-optical measurements and the manipulation of the spin and valley degrees of freedom. We study the influence of the very strong spin-orbit coupling and of the anisotropic lifting of the valley pseudospin degeneracy on its magnetotransport properties. The energy spectrum of WSe$_{2} $ is derived and discussed in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field $B$. Correspondingly we evaluate the magneto-optical Hall conductivity and the optical longitudinal conductivity as functions of the frequ…
The valley degree of freedom in two-dimensional (2D) crystals recently emerged as a novel information carrier in addition to spin and charge. The intrinsic valley lifetime in 2D transition metal dichalcoginides (TMD) is expected to be remarkably long due to the unique spin-valley locking behavior, where the inter-valley scattering of electron requires simultaneously a large momentum transfer to the opposite valley and a flip of the electron spin. The experimentally observed valley lifetime in 2D TMDs, however, has been limited to tens of nanoseconds so far. Here we report efficient generation …
The Hall effect can be extended by inducing a temperature gradient in lieu of electric field that is known as the Nernst (-Ettingshausen) effect. The recently discovered spin Nernst effect in heavy metals continues to enrich the picture of Nernst effect-related phenomena. However, the collection would not be complete without mentioning the valley degree of freedom benchmarked by the observation of the valley Hall effect. Here we show the experimental evidence of its missing counterpart, the valley Nernst effect. Using millimeter-sized WSe$_{2}$ mono-multi-layers and the ferromagnetic resonance…
In this work, we investigate spin and valley transport properties of a WSe$_2$ monolayer placed on top of a ferromagnetic insulator. We are interested in controlling the transport properties by applying external potentials to the system. To obtain spin an valley polarizations, we have considered a single and a double barrier structure with gate potentials. We have analyzed how the efficiency of these polarized transport properties depend on the gate-potential intensities and geometrical configurations. Additionally, we investigate how the spin and valley transport properties are modified when …
Alloyed transition metal dichalcogenides provide an opportunity for coupling band engineering with valleytronic phenomena in an atomically-thin platform. However, valley properties in alloys remain largely unexplored. We investigate the valley degree of freedom in monolayer alloys of the phase change candidate material WSe$_{2(1-x)}$Te$_{2x}$. Low temperature Raman measurements track the alloy-induced transition from the semiconducting 1H phase of WSe$_2$ to the semimetallic 1T$_d$ phase of WTe$_2$. We correlate these observations with density functional theory calculations and identify new Ra…
We investigate the hole spin relaxation due to the Rashba spin-orbit coupling induced by an external perpendicular electric field in bilayer WSe$_2$. The Rashba spin-orbit coupling coefficients in bilayer WSe$_2$ are constructed from the corresponding monolayer ones. In contrast to monolayer WSe$_2$, the out-of-plane component of the bilayer Rashba spin-orbit coupling acts as a Zeeman-like field with opposite directions but identical values in the two valleys. For in-plane spins, this Zeeman-like field, together with the intervalley hole-phonon scattering, opens an intervalley spin relaxation …
We report on nanosecond long, gate-dependent valley lifetimes of free charge carriers in monolayer WSe$_2$, unambiguously identified by the combination of time-resolved Kerr rotation and electrical transport measurements. While the valley polarization increases when tuning the Fermi level into the conduction or valence band, there is a strong decrease of the respective valley lifetime consistent with both electron-phonon and spin-orbit scattering. The longest lifetimes are seen for spin-polarized bound excitons in the band gap region. We explain our findings via two distinct, Fermi level-depen…
The twist degree of freedom provides a powerful new tool for engineering the electrical and optical properties of van der Waals heterostructures. Here, we show that the twist angle can be used to control the spin-valley properties of transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers by changing the momentum alignment of the valleys in the two layers. Specifically, we observe that the interlayer excitons in twisted WSe$_2$/WSe$_2$ bilayers exhibit a high (>60%) degree of circular polarization (DOCP) and long valley lifetimes (>40 ns) at zero electric and magnetic fields. The valley lifetime can be tuned…
Giant spin Hall effect (GSHE) has been observed in heavy metal materials such as Ta, Pt, and W, where spins are polarized in the surface plane and perpendicular to the charge current direction. Spins generated in these materials have successfully switched magnets with in-plane magnetic anisotropy (IMA) and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) through spin orbit torque (SOT) mechanism. It is generally accepted that PMA magnets are preferred over IMA magnets in data storage applications owing to their large thermal stability even at ultra scaled dimensions. However, SOT switching of PMA magne…
Controlling the momentum of carriers in semiconductors, known as valley polarization, is a new resource for optoelectronics and information technologies. Materials exhibiting high polarization are needed for valley-based devices. Few-layer WS$_2$ shows a remarkable spin-valley polarization above 90%, even at room temperature. In stark contrast, polarization is absent for few-layer WSe$_2$ despite the expected material similarities. Here, we explain the origin of valley polarization in both materials based on the interplay between two indirect optical transitions. We show that the relative ener…
Single-layer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) provide a promising material system to explore the electron's valley degree of freedom as a quantum information carrier. The valley degree of freedom in single-layer TMDs can be directly accessed by means of optical excitation. The rapid valley relaxation of optically excited electron-hole pairs (excitons) through the long-range electron-hole exchange interaction, however, has been a major roadblock. Theoretically such a valley relaxation does not occur for the recently discovered dark excitons, suggesting a potential route for long valley l…
We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of valley populations in the valence bands of trilayer WSe$_2$. Shubnikov$-$de Haas oscillations show that trilayer holes populate two distinct subbands associated with the $K$ and $Γ$ valleys, with effective masses 0.5$m_e$ and $1.2m_e$, respectively; $m_e$ is the bare electron mass. At a fixed total hole density, an applied transverse electric field transfers holes from $Γ$ orbitals to $K$ orbitals. We are able to explain this behavior in terms of the larger layer polarizability of the $K$ orbital subband.
A valley-contrasting Berry curvature in bilayer transition metal dichalcogenides with spin-orbit coupling can generate valley magnetization when the inversion symmetry is broken, for example, by an electric field, regardless of time-reversal symmetry. A nontrivial Berry curvature can also lead to anomalous transport responses, such as the anomalous Hall effect and the anomalous Nernst effect. Applied to a bilayer WSe$_2$, an electric field can tune the Berry curvature and orbital magnetic moment, which has important consequences for the orbital magnetization and the anomalous Nernst responses.…
Transconductance as a Probe of Valley Thermodynamics in Multilayer WSe$_2$
Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)(物质·材料纳米结构研究センター(MANA),国立物質研究所(NIMS));Department of Nanotechnology for Sustainable Energy, Kwansei Gakuin University(关西学院大学持続可能エネルギーナノテクノロジー学科)
One of the main tasks in the investigation of 2-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides is the determination of valley lifetimes. In this work, we combine time-resolved Kerr rotation with electrical transport measurements to explore the gate-dependent valley lifetimes of free conduction band electrons of monolayer WSe$_2$. When tuning the Fermi energy into the conduction band we observe a strong decrease of the respective valley lifetimes which is consistent with both spin-orbit and electron-phonon scattering. We explain the formation of a valley polarization by the scattering of opticall…
The creation of moiré patterns in crystalline solids is a powerful approach to manipulate their electronic properties, which are fundamentally influenced by periodic potential landscapes. In 2D materials, a moiré pattern with a superlattice potential can form by vertically stacking two layered materials with a twist and/or finite lattice constant difference. This unique approach has led to emergent electronic phenomena, including the fractal quantum Hall effect, tunable Mott insulators, and unconventional superconductivity. Furthermore, theory predicts intriguing effects on optical excitations…
Monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides are ideal materials to control both spin and valley degrees of freedom either electrically or optically. Nevertheless, optical excitation mostly generates excitons species with inherently short lifetime and spin/valley relaxation time. Here we demonstrate a very efficient spin/valley optical pumping of resident electrons in n-doped WSe2 and WS2 monolayers. We observe that, using a continuous wave laser and appropriate doping and excitation densities, negative trion doublet lines exhibit circular polarization of opposite sign and the photoluminesce…
A new degree of freedom, the valley pseudospin, emerges in atomically thin two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (MX2) and has attracted great scientific interest. The capability to manipulate the valley pseudospin, in analogy to the control of spin in spintronics, can open up exciting opportunities in valleytronics. Here we demonstrate that an ultrafast and ultrahigh valley pseudomagnetic field can be generated using circularly polarized femtosecond pulses to selectively control the valley degree of freedom in monolayer MX2. Employing ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy, we observed …