Negative circular polarization emissions from WSe2/MoSe2 commensurate heterobilayers

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 1 - 7
• Main Authors: Hsu, Wei-Ting, Lu, Li-Syuan, Wu, Po-Hsun, Lee, Ming-Hao, Chen, Peng-Jen, Wu, Pei-Ying, Chou, Yi-Chia, Jeng, Horng-Tay, Li, Lain-Jong, Chu, Ming-Wen, Chang, Wen-Hao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group 10.04.2018; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Chemical vapor deposition; Circular polarization; Coupling; Epitaxial growth; Excitation; Excitons; Helicity; Interlayers; Microscopy; Optical properties; Photoluminescence; Photons; Physics; Polarization; Valleys
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03869-7

Abstract Van der Waals heterobilayers of transition metal dichalcogenides with spin–valley coupling of carriers in different layers have emerged as a new platform for exploring spin/valleytronic applications. The interlayer coupling was predicted to exhibit subtle changes with the interlayer atomic registry. Manually stacked heterobilayers, however, are incommensurate with the inevitable interlayer twist and/or lattice mismatch, where the properties associated with atomic registry are difficult to access by optical means. Here, we unveil the distinct polarization properties of valley-specific interlayer excitons using epitaxially grown, commensurate WSe 2 /MoSe 2 heterobilayers with well-defined (AA and AB) atomic registry. We observe circularly polarized photoluminescence from interlayer excitons, but with a helicity opposite to the optical excitation. The negative circular polarization arises from the quantum interference imposed by interlayer atomic registry, giving rise to distinct polarization selection rules for interlayer excitons. Using selective excitation schemes, we demonstrate the optical addressability for interlayer excitons with different valley configurations and polarization helicities.