No Arabic abstract
Van der Waals materials offer a wide range of atomic layers with unique properties that can be easily combined to engineer novel electronic and photonic devices. A missing ingredient of the van der Waals platform is a two-dimensional crystal with naturally occurring out-of-plane luminescent dipole orientation. Here we measure the far-field photoluminescence intensity distribution of bulk InSe and two-dimensional InSe, WSe$_2$ and MoSe$_2$. We demonstrate, with the support of ab-initio calculations, that layered InSe flakes sustain luminescent excitons with an intrinsic out-of-plane orientation, in contrast with the in-plane orientation of dipoles we find in two-dimensional WSe$_2$ and MoSe$_2$ at room-temperature. These results, combined with the high tunability of the optical response and outstanding transport properties, position layered InSe as a promising semiconductor for novel optoelectronic devices, in particular for hybrid integrated photonic chips which exploit the out-of-plane dipole orientation.
Raman scattering and photoluminescence spectroscopy are used to investigate the optical properties of single layer black phosphorus obtained by mechanical exfoliation of bulk crystals under an argon atmosphere. The Raman spectroscopy, performed in situ on the same flake as the photoluminescence measurements, demonstrates the single layer character of the investigated samples. The emission spectra, dominated by excitonic effects, display the expected in plane anisotropy. The emission energy depends on the type of substrate on which the flake is placed due to the different dielectric screening. Finally, the blue shift of the emission with increasing temperature is well described using a two oscillator model for the temperature dependence of the band gap.
Atomically thin semiconductors provide an excellent platform to study intriguing many-particle physics of tightly-bound excitons. In particular, the properties of tungsten-based transition metal dichalcogenides are determined by a complex manifold of bright and dark exciton states. While dark excitons are known to dominate the relaxation dynamics and low-temperature photoluminescence, their impact on the spatial propagation of excitons has remained elusive. In our joint theory-experiment study, we address this intriguing regime of dark state transport by resolving the spatio-temporal exciton dynamics in hBN-encapsulated WSe$_2$ monolayers after resonant excitation. We find clear evidence of an unconventional, time-dependent diffusion during the first tens of picoseconds, exhibiting strong deviation from the steady-state propagation. Dark exciton states are initially populated by phonon emission from the bright states, resulting in creation of hot excitons whose rapid expansion leads to a transient increase of the diffusion coefficient by more than one order of magnitude. These findings are relevant for both fundamental understanding of the spatio-temporal exciton dynamics in atomically thin materials as well as their technological application by enabling rapid diffusion.
Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites have emerged as very promising materials for photonic applications, thanks to the great synthetic versatility that allows to tune their optical properties. In the two-dimensional (2D) crystalline form, these materials behave as multiple quantum-well heterostructures with stable excitonic resonances up to room temperature. In this work strong light-matter coupling in 2D perovskite single-crystal flakes is observed, and the polarization-dependent exciton-polariton response is used to disclose new excitonic features. For the first time, an out-of-plane component of the excitons is observed, unexpected for such 2D systems and completely absent in other layered materials, such as transition-metal dichalcogenides. By comparing different hybrid perovskites with the same inorganic layer but different organic interlayers, it is shown how the nature of the organic ligands controllably affects the out-of-plane exciton-photon coupling. Such vertical dipole coupling is particularly sought in those systems, e.g. plasmonic nanocavities, in which the direction of the field is usually orthogonal to the material sheet. Organic interlayers are shown to affect also the strong birefringence associated to the layered structure, which is exploited in this work to completely rotate the linear polarization degree in only few microns of propagation, akin to what happens in metamaterials.
Single- and few-layered InSe flakes are produced by the liquid-phase exfoliation of beta-InSe single crystals in 2-propanol, obtaining stable dispersions with a concentration as high as 0.11 g/L. Ultracentrifugation is used to tune the morphology, i.e., the lateral size and thickness of the as-produced InSe flakes. We demonstrate that the obtained InSe flakes have maximum lateral sizes ranging from 30 nm to a few um, and thicknesses ranging from 1 to 20 nm, with a max population centred at ~ 5 nm, corresponding to 4 Se-In-In-Se quaternary layers. We also show that no formation of further InSe-based compounds (such as In2Se3) or oxides occurs during the exfoliation process. The potential of these exfoliated-InSe few-layer flakes as a catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is tested in hybrid single-walled carbon nanotubes/InSe heterostructures. We highlight the dependence of the InSe flakes morphologies, i.e., surface area and thickness, on the HER performances achieving best efficiencies with small flakes offering predominant edge effects. Our theoretical model unveils the origin of the catalytic efficiency of InSe flakes, and correlates the catalytic activity to the Se vacancies at the edge of the flakes.
We report an out-of-plane magnetic field induced large photoluminescence enhancement in WS${}_2$ flakes at $4$ K, in contrast to the photoluminescence enhancement provided by in-plane field in general. Two mechanisms for the enhancement are proposed. One is a larger overlap of electron and hole caused by the magnetic field induced confinement. The other is that the energy difference between $Lambda$ and K valleys is reduced by magnetic field, and thus enhancing the corresponding indirect-transition trions. Meanwhile, the Lande g factor of the trion is measured as $-0.8$, whose absolute value is much smaller than normal exciton, which is around $|-4|$. A model for the trion g factor is presented, confirming that the smaller absolute value of Lande g factor is a behavior of this $Lambda$-K trion. By extending the valley space, we believe this work provides a further understanding of the valleytronics in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides.