Ultrafast dynamics of bright and dark excitons in monolayer WSe2 and heterobilayer WSe2/MoS2

The energy landscape of optical excitations in mono- and few-layer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) is dominated by optically bright and dark excitons. These excitons can be fully localized within a single TMD layer, or the electron- and the hole-component of the exciton can be charge-separated over multiple TMD layers. Such intra- or interlayer excitons have been characterized in detail using all-optical spectroscopies, and, more recently, photoemission spectroscopy. In addition, there are so-called hybrid excitons whose electron- and/or hole-component are delocalized over two or more TMD layers, and therefore provide a promising pathway to mediate charge-transfer processes across the TMD interface. Hence, an in-situ characterization of their energy landscape and dynamics is of vital interest. In this work, using femtosecond momentum microscopy combined with many-particle modeling, we quantitatively compare the dynamics of momentum-indirect intralayer excitons in monolayer WSe2 with the dynamics of momentum-indirect hybrid excitons in heterobilayer WSe2/MoS2, and draw three key conclusions: First, we find that the energy of hybrid excitons is reduced when compared to excitons with pure intralayer character. Second, we show that the momentum-indirect intralayer and hybrid excitons are formed via exciton-phonon scattering from optically excited bright excitons. And third, we demonstrate that the efficiency for phonon absorption and emission processes in the mono- and the heterobilayer is strongly dependent on the energy alignment of the intralayer and hybrid excitons with respect to the optically excited bright exciton. Overall, our work provides microscopic insights into exciton dynamics in TMD mono- and bilayers.

Automated summary

The energy landscape of optical excitations in mono- and few-layer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) can be dominated by optically bright and dark excitons. In this work, the researchers used femtosecond momentum microscopy combined with many-particle modeling to compare the dynamics of intralayer and hybrid excitons in different TMD systems. They found that hybrid excitons have lower energy compared to intralayer excitons, and that both types of excitons are formed via exciton-phonon scattering from optically excited bright excitons. The efficiency of phonon absorption and emission processes in these systems strongly depends on the energy alignment of the excitons with respect to the optically excited bright exciton.