Dimensionality of exciton-state renormalization in highly excited semiconductors

Exciton formation in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides provide a unique platform to study excitons in confined structures. Recently, several important aspects of excitons in these materials have been investigated in detail. However, the formation process of excitons from free carriers has yet to be understood. Here we report time-resolved measurements on the exciton formation process in monolayer samples of MoS2, MoSe2, WS2, and WSe2. The free electron-hole pairs, injected by an ultrashort laser pulse, immediately induce a transient absorption signal of a probe pulse tuned to the exciton resonance. The signal quickly drops by about a factor of two within 1 ps and is followed by a slower decay process. In contrast, when excitons are resonantly injected, the fast decay component is absent. Based both on its excitation excess energy and intensity dependence, this fast decay process is attributed to the formation of excitons from the electron-hole pairs. This interpretation is also consistent with a model that shows how free electron-hole pairs can be about twice more effective than excitons in altering the exciton absorption strength. From our measurements and analysis of our results, we determined that the exciton formation times in these monolayers to be shorter than 1 ps.

Electrical Tuning of Exciton Binding Energies in Monolayer WS_{2}

We demonstrate continuous tuning of the exciton binding energy in monolayer WS_{2} by means of an externally applied voltage in a field-effect transistor device. Using optical spectroscopy, we monitor the ground and excited excitonic states as a function of gate voltage and track the evolution of the quasiparticle band gap. The observed decrease of the exciton binding energy over the range of about 100 meV, accompanied by the renormalization of the quasiparticle band gap, is associated with screening of the Coulomb interaction by the electrically injected free charge carriers at densities up to 8×10^{12} cm^{-2}. Complete ionization of the excitons due to the electrical doping is estimated to occur at a carrier density of several 10^{13} cm^{-2}.

Optical absorption in degenerately doped semiconductors: Mott transition or Mahan excitons?

Electron doping turns semiconductors conductive even when they have wide fundamental band gaps. The degenerate electron gas in the lowest conduction-band states, e.g., of a transparent conducting oxide, drastically modifies the Coulomb interaction between the electrons and, hence, the optical properties close to the absorption edge. We describe these effects by developing an ab initio technique which captures also the Pauli blocking and the Fermi-edge singularity at the optical-absorption onset, that occur in addition to quasiparticle and excitonic effects. We answer the question whether free carriers induce an excitonic Mott transition or trigger the evolution of Wannier-Mott excitons into Mahan excitons. The prototypical n-type zinc oxide is studied as an example.