Optical control of charged exciton states in tungsten disulfide

A method is presented for optically preparing WS2 monolayers to luminescence from only the charged exciton (trion) state-completely suppressing the neutral exciton. When isolating the trion state, we observed changes in the Raman A(1g) intensity and an enhanced feature on the low energy side of the E-2g(1) peak. Photoluminescence and optical reflectivity measurements confirm the existence of the prepared trion state. This technique also prepares intermediate regimes with controlled luminescence amplitudes of the neutral and charged exciton. This effect is reversible by exposing the sample to air, indicating the change is mitigated by surface interactions with the ambient environment. This method provides a tool to modify optical emission energy and to isolate physical processes in this and other two-dimensional materials. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.