Strongly Interaction-Enhanced Valley Magnetic Response in Monolayer WSe_{2}

Coexisting Phases in Transition Metal Dichalcogenides: Overview, Synthesis, Applications, and Prospects

Over the past decade, significant advancements have been made in phase engineering of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), thereby allowing controlled synthesis of various phases of TMDCs and facile conversion between them. Recently, there has been emerging interest in TMDC coexisting phases, which contain multiple phases within one nanostructured TMDC. By taking advantage of the merits from the component phases, the coexisting phases offer enhanced performance in many aspects compared with single-phase TMDCs. Herein, this review article thoroughly expounds the latest progress and ongoing efforts on the syntheses, properties, and applications of TMDC coexisting phases. The introduction section overviews the main phases of TMDCs (2H, 3R, 1T, 1T', 1Td), along with the advantages of phase coexistence. The subsequent section focuses on the synthesis methods for coexisting phases of TMDCs, with particular attention to local patterning and random formations. Furthermore, on the basis of the versatile properties of TMDC coexisting phases, their applications in magnetism, valleytronics, field-effect transistors, memristors, and catalysis are discussed. Lastly, a perspective is presented on the future development, challenges, and potential opportunities of TMDC coexisting phases. This review aims to provide insights into the phase engineering of 2D materials for both scientific and engineering communities and contribute to further advancements in this emerging field.

Charge Transfer and Asymmetric Coupling of MoSe2 Valleys to the Magnetic Order of CrSBr

van der Waals heterostructures composed of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides and vdW magnetic materials offer an intriguing platform to functionalize valley and excitonic properties in nonmagnetic TMDs. Here, we report magneto photoluminescence (PL) investigations of monolayer (ML) MoSe2 on the layered A-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) semiconductor CrSBr under different magnetic field orientations. Our results reveal a clear influence of the CrSBr magnetic order on the optical properties of MoSe2, such as an anomalous linear-polarization dependence, changes of the exciton/trion energies, a magnetic-field dependence of the PL intensities, and a valley g-factor with signatures of an asymmetric magnetic proximity interaction. Furthermore, first-principles calculations suggest that MoSe2/CrSBr forms a broken-gap (type-III) band alignment, facilitating charge transfer processes. The work establishes that antiferromagnetic-nonmagnetic interfaces can be used to control the valley and excitonic properties of TMDs, relevant for the development of opto-spintronics devices.

The Interaction of 2D Materials With Circularly Polarized Light

2D materials (2DMs), due to spin-valley locking degree of freedom, exhibit strongly bound exciton and chiral optical selection rules and become promising material candidates for optoelectronic and spin/valleytronic devices. Over the last decade, the manifesting of 2D materials by circularly polarized lights expedites tremendous fascinating phenomena, such as valley/exciton Hall effect, Moiré exciton, optical Stark effect, circular dichroism, circularly polarized photoluminescence, and spintronic property. In this review, recent advance in the interaction of circularly polarized light with 2D materials covering from graphene, black phosphorous, transition metal dichalcogenides, van der Waals heterostructures as well as small proportion of quasi-2D perovskites and topological materials, is overviewed. The confronted challenges and theoretical and experimental opportunities are also discussed, attempting to accelerate the prosperity of chiral light-2DMs interactions.

Intralayer charge-transfer moiré excitons in van der Waals superlattices

Moiré patterns of transition metal dichalcogenide heterobilayers have proved to be an ideal platform on which to host unusual correlated electronic phases, emerging magnetism and correlated exciton physics. Whereas the existence of new moiré excitonic states is established^1-4 through optical measurements, the microscopic nature of these states is still poorly understood, often relying on empirically fit models. Here, combining large-scale first-principles GW (where G and W denote the one-particle Green's function and the screened Coulomb interaction, respectively) plus Bethe-Salpeter calculations and micro-reflection spectroscopy, we identify the nature of the exciton resonances in WSe₂/WS₂ moiré superlattices, discovering a rich set of moiré excitons that cannot be captured by prevailing continuum models. Our calculations show moiré excitons with distinct characters, including modulated Wannier excitons and previously unidentified intralayer charge-transfer excitons. Signatures of these distinct excitonic characters are confirmed experimentally by the unique carrier-density and magnetic-field dependences of different moiré exciton resonances. Our study highlights the highly non-trivial exciton states that can emerge in transition metal dichalcogenide moiré superlattices, and suggests new ways of tuning many-body physics in moiré systems by engineering excited-states with specific spatial characters.

Giant g-factor in Self-Intercalated 2D TaS2

Central to the application of spintronic devices is the ability to manipulate spins by electric and magnetic fields, which relies on a large Landé g-factor. The self-intercalation of layered transitional metal dichalcogenides with native metal atoms can serve as a new strategy to enhance the g-factor by inducing ferromagnetic instability in the system via interlayer charge transfer. Here, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) are performed to extract the g-factor and characterize the electronic structure of the self-intercalated phase of 2H-TaS₂ . In Ta₇ S₁₂ , a sharp density of states (DOS) peak due to the Ta intercalant appears at the Fermi level, which satisfies the Stoner criteria for spontaneous ferromagnetism, leading to spin split states. The DOS peak shows sensitivity to magnetic field up to 1.85 mV T^-1 , equivalent to an effective g-factor of ≈77. This work establishes self-intercalation as an approach for tuning the g-factor.

Femtosecond Pulsed Fiber Laser by an Optical Device Based on NaOH-LPE Prepared WSe2 Saturable Absorber

We report on all-optical devices prepared from WSe2 combined with drawn tapered fibers as saturable absorbers to achieve ultrashort pulse output. The saturable absorber with a high damage threshold and high saturable absorption characteristics is prepared for application in erbium-doped fiber lasers by the liquid phase exfoliation method for WSe2, and the all-optical device exhibited strong saturable absorption characteristics with a modulation depth of 15% and a saturation intensity of 100.58 W. The net dispersion of the erbium-doped fiber laser cavity is ~-0.1 ps2, and a femtosecond pulse output with a bandwidth of 11.4 nm, a pulse width of 390 fs, and a single-pulse capability of 42 pJ is obtained. Results indicate that the proposed WSe2 saturable absorbers are efficient, photonic devices to realize stable fiber lasers. The results demonstrate that the WSe2 saturable absorber is an effective photonic device for realizing stable fiber lasers, which have a certain significance for the development of potential photonic devices.

The Magnetic Genome of Two-Dimensional van der Waals Materials

Magnetism in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials has recently emerged as one of the most promising areas in condensed matter research, with many exciting emerging properties and significant potential for applications ranging from topological magnonics to low-power spintronics, quantum computing, and optical communications. In the brief time after their discovery, 2D magnets have blossomed into a rich area for investigation, where fundamental concepts in magnetism are challenged by the behavior of spins that can develop at the single layer limit. However, much effort is still needed in multiple fronts before 2D magnets can be routinely used for practical implementations. In this comprehensive review, prominent authors with expertise in complementary fields of 2D magnetism (i.e., synthesis, device engineering, magneto-optics, imaging, transport, mechanics, spin excitations, and theory and simulations) have joined together to provide a genome of current knowledge and a guideline for future developments in 2D magnetic materials research.

Spin-Selective Hole-Exciton Coupling in a V-Doped WSe2 Ferromagnetic Semiconductor at Room Temperature

While valley polarization with strong Zeeman splitting is the most prominent characteristic of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductors under magnetic fields, enhancement of the Zeeman splitting has been demonstrated by incorporating magnetic dopants into the host materials. Unlike Fe, Mn, and Co, V is a distinctive dopant for ferromagnetic semiconducting properties at room temperature with large Zeeman shifting of band edges. Nevertheless, little known is the excitons interacting with spin-polarized carriers in V-doped TMDs. Here, we report anomalous circularly polarized photoluminescence (CPL) in a V-doped WSe₂ monolayer at room temperature. Excitons couple to V-induced spin-polarized holes to generate spin-selective positive trions, leading to differences in the populations of neutral excitons and trions between left and right CPL. Using transient absorption spectroscopy, we elucidate the origin of excitons and trions that are inherently distinct for defect-mediated and impurity-mediated trions. Ferromagnetic characteristics are further confirmed by the significant Zeeman splitting of nanodiamonds deposited on the V-doped WSe₂ monolayer.

Enhanced Valley Splitting in Monolayer WSe2 by Phase Engineering

Lifting the valley degeneracy in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides could promote their applications in information processing. Various external regulations, including magnetic substrate, magnetic doping, electric field, and carrier doping, have been implemented to enhance the valley splitting under the magnetic field. Here, a phase engineering strategy, through modifying the intrinsic lattice structure, is proposed to enhance the valley splitting in monolayer WSe₂. The valley splitting in hybrid H and T phase WSe₂ is tunable by the concentration of the T phase. An obvious valley splitting of ∼4.1 meV is obtained with the T phase concentration of 31% under ±5 T magnetic fields, which corresponds to an effective Landé g_eff factor of -14, about 3.5-fold of that in pure H-WSe₂. Comparing the temperature and magnetic field dependent polarized photoluminescence and also combining the theoretical simulations reveal the enhanced valley splitting is dominantly attributed to exchange interaction of H phase WSe₂ with the local magnetic moments induced by the T phase. This finding provides a convenient solution for lifting the valley degeneracy of two-dimensional materials.

Observation of Strong Valley Magnetic Response in Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Alloys of Mo0.5W0.5Se2 and Mo0.5W0.5Se2/WS2 Heterostructures

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) alloys have emerged as a unique material system for promising applications in electronics, optoelectronics, and spintronics due to their tunable electronic structures, effective masses of carriers, and valley polarization with various alloy compositions. Although spin-orbit engineering has been extensively studied in monolayer TMD alloys, the valley Zeeman effect in these alloys still remains largely unexplored. Here we demonstrate the enhanced valley magnetic response in Mo_0.5W_0.5Se₂ alloy monolayers and Mo_0.5W_0.5Se₂/WS₂ heterostructures probed by magneto-photoluminescence spectroscopy. The large g factors of negatively charged excitons (trions) of Mo_0.5W_0.5Se₂ have been extracted for both pure Mo_0.5W_0.5Se₂ monolayers and Mo_0.5W_0.5Se₂/WS₂ heterostructures, which are attributed to the significant impact of doping-induced strong many-body Coulomb interactions on trion emissions under an out-of-plane magnetic field. Moreover, compared with the monolayer Mo_0.5W_0.5Se₂, the slightly reduced valley Zeeman splitting in Mo_0.5W_0.5Se₂/WS₂ is a consequence of the weakened exchange interaction arising from p-doping in Mo_0.5W_0.5Se₂ via interlayer charge transfer between Mo_0.5W_0.5Se₂ and WS₂. Such interlayer charge transfer further evidences the formation of type-II band alignment, in agreement with the density functional theory calculations. Our findings give insights into the spin-valley and interlayer coupling effects in monolayer TMD alloys and their heterostructures, which are essential to develop valleytronic applications based on the emerging family of TMD alloys.

Optical control of the valley Zeeman effect through many-exciton interactions

Charge carriers in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), such as WSe₂, have their spin and valley-pseudospin locked into an optically addressable index that is proposed as a basis for future information processing^1,2. The manipulation of this spin-valley index, which carries a magnetic moment³, requires tuning its energy. This is typically achieved through an external magnetic field (B), which is practically cumbersome. However, the valley-contrasting optical Stark effect achieves valley control without B, but requires large incident powers^4,5. Thus, other efficient routes to control the spin-valley index are desirable. Here we show that many-body interactions among interlayer excitons (IXs) in a WSe₂/MoSe₂ heterobilayer (HBL) induce a steady-state valley Zeeman splitting that corresponds to B ≈ 6 T. This anomalous splitting, present at incident powers as low as microwatts, increases with power and is able to enhance, suppress or even flip the sign of a B-induced splitting. Moreover, the g-factor of valley Zeeman splitting can be tuned by ~30% with incident power. In addition to valleytronics, our results could prove helpful to achieve optical non-reciprocity using two-dimensional materials.

Spontaneous Valley Polarization of Interacting Carriers in a Monolayer Semiconductor

We report magnetoabsorption spectroscopy of gated WSe_{2} monolayers in high magnetic fields up to 60 T. When doped with a 2D Fermi sea of mobile holes, well-resolved sequences of optical transitions are observed in both σ^{±} circular polarizations, which unambiguously and separately indicate the number of filled Landau levels (LLs) in both K and K^{'} valleys. This reveals the interaction-enhanced valley Zeeman energy, which is found to be highly tunable with hole density p. We exploit this tunability to align the LLs in K and K^{'}, and find that the 2D hole gas becomes unstable against small changes in LL filling and can spontaneously valley polarize. These results cannot be understood within a single-particle picture, highlighting the importance of exchange interactions in determining the ground state of 2D carriers in monolayer semiconductors.

Ab Initio Studies of Exciton g Factors: Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides in Magnetic Fields

The effect of a magnetic field on the optical absorption in semiconductors has been measured experimentally and modeled theoretically for various systems in previous decades. We present a new first-principles approach to systematically determine the response of excitons to magnetic fields, i.e., exciton g factors. By utilizing the GW-Bethe-Salpeter equation methodology we show that g factors extracted from the Zeeman shift of electronic bands are strongly renormalized by many-body effects which we trace back to the extent of the excitons in reciprocal space. We apply our approach to monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides (MoS_{2}, MoSe_{2}, MoTe_{2}, WS_{2}, and WSe_{2}) with strongly bound excitons for which g factors are weakened by about 30%.

Unveiling Valley Lifetimes of Free Charge Carriers in Monolayer WSe2

We report on nanosecond-long, gate-dependent valley lifetimes of free charge carriers in monolayer WSe₂, unambiguously identified by the combination of time-resolved Kerr rotation and electrical transport measurements. While the valley polarization increases when tuning the Fermi level into the conduction or valence band, there is a strong decrease of the respective valley lifetime consistent with both electron-phonon and spin-orbit scattering. The longest lifetimes are seen for spin-polarized bound excitons in the band gap region. We explain our findings via two distinct, Fermi-level-dependent scattering channels of optically excited, valley-polarized bright trions either via dark or bound states. By electrostatic gating we demonstrate that the transition-metal dichalcogenide WSe₂ can be tuned to be either an ideal host for long-lived localized spin states or allow for nanosecond valley lifetimes of free charge carriers (>10 ns).

Enhanced Valley Zeeman Splitting in Fe-Doped Monolayer MoS2

The "Zeeman effect" offers unique opportunities for magnetic manipulation of the spin degree of freedom (DOF). Recently, valley Zeeman splitting, referring to the lifting of valley degeneracy, has been demonstrated in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) at liquid helium temperature. However, to realize the practical applications of valley pseudospins, the valley DOF must be controllable by a magnetic field at room temperature, which remains a significant challenge. Magnetic doping in TMDs can enhance the Zeeman splitting; however, to achieve this experimentally is not easy. Here, we report unambiguous magnetic manipulation of valley Zeeman splitting at 300 K (g_eff = -6.4) and 10 K (g_eff = -11) in a CVD-grown Fe-doped MoS₂ monolayer; the effective Landé g_eff factor can be tuned to -20.7 by increasing the Fe dopant concentration, which represents an approximately 5-fold enhancement as compared to undoped MoS₂. Our measurements and calculations reveal that the enhanced splitting and g_eff factors are due to the Heisenberg exchange interaction of the localized magnetic moments (Fe 3d electrons) with MoS₂ through the d-orbital hybridization.

Spin-Valley Locking Effect in Defect States of Monolayer MoS2

Valley pseudospin in two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) allows optical control of spin-valley polarization and intervalley quantum coherence. Defect states in TMDs give rise to new exciton features and theoretically exhibit spin-valley polarization; however, experimental achievement of this phenomenon remains challenges. Here, we report unambiguous valley pseudospin of defect-bound localized excitons in CVD-grown monolayer MoS₂; enhanced valley Zeeman splitting with an effective g-factor of -6.2 is observed. Our results reveal that all five d-orbitals and the increased effective electron mass contribute to the band shift of defect states, demonstrating a new physics of the magnetic responses of defect-bound localized excitons, strikingly different from that of A excitons. Our work paves the way for the manipulation of the spin-valley degrees of freedom through defects toward valleytronic devices.

Landau-Quantized Excitonic Absorption and Luminescence in a Monolayer Valley Semiconductor

We investigate Landau-quantized excitonic absorption and luminescence of monolayer WSe_{2} under magnetic field. We observe gate-dependent quantum oscillations in the bright exciton and trions (or exciton polarons) as well as the dark trions and their phonon replicas. Our results reveal spin- and valley-polarized Landau levels (LLs) with filling factors n=+0, +1 in the bottom conduction band and n=-0 to -6 in the top valence band, including the Berry-curvature-induced n=±0 LLs of massive Dirac fermions. The LL filling produces periodic plateaus in the exciton energy shift accompanied by sharp oscillations in the exciton absorption width and magnitude. This peculiar exciton behavior can be simulated by semiempirical calculations. The experimentally deduced g factors of the conduction band (g∼2.5) and valence band (g∼15) exceed those predicted in a single-particle model (g=1.5, 5.5, respectively). Such g-factor enhancement implies strong many-body interactions in gated monolayer WSe_{2}. The complex interplay between Landau quantization, excitonic effects, and many-body interactions makes monolayer WSe_{2} a promising platform to explore novel correlated quantum phenomena.

Enhancing and controlling valley magnetic response in MoS2/WS2 heterostructures by all-optical route

Van der Waals heterostructures of transition metal dichalcogenides with interlayer coupling offer an exotic platform to realize fascinating phenomena. Due to the type II band alignment of these heterostructures, electrons and holes are separated into different layers. The localized electrons induced doping in one layer, in principle, would lift the Fermi level to cross the spin-polarized upper conduction band and lead to strong manipulation of valley magnetic response. Here, we report the significantly enhanced valley Zeeman splitting and magnetic tuning of polarization for the direct optical transition of MoS₂ in MoS₂/WS₂ heterostructures. Such strong enhancement of valley magnetic response in MoS₂ stems from the change of the spin-valley degeneracy from 2 to 4 and strong many-body Coulomb interactions induced by ultrafast charge transfer. Moreover, the magnetic splitting can be tuned monotonically by laser power, providing an effective all-optical route towards engineering and manipulating of valleytronic devices and quantum-computation.

Van der Waals heterostructures may offer a suitable platform for all-optical manipulation of valleytronic devices. Here, the authors observe a strong enhancement of the valley magnetic response in MoS₂, and magnetic tuning of the polarization of MoS₂ direct optical transition

Emerging photoluminescence from the dark-exciton phonon replica in monolayer WSe2

Tungsten-based monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides host a long-lived "dark" exciton, an electron-hole pair in a spin-triplet configuration. The long lifetime and unique spin properties of the dark exciton provide exciting opportunities to explore light-matter interactions beyond electric dipole transitions. Here we demonstrate that the coupling of the dark exciton and an optically silent chiral phonon enables the intrinsic photoluminescence of the dark-exciton replica in monolayer WSe2. Gate and magnetic-field dependent PL measurements unveil a circularly-polarized replica peak located below the dark exciton by 21.6 meV, equal to E″ phonon energy from Se vibrations. First-principles calculations show that the exciton-phonon interaction selectively couples the spin-forbidden dark exciton to the intravalley spin-allowed bright exciton, permitting the simultaneous emission of a chiral phonon and a circularly-polarized photon. Our discovery and understanding of the phonon replica reveals a chirality dictated emission channel of the phonons and photons, unveiling a new route of manipulating valley-spin.

Tunable valley and spin splitting in 2H-VSe2/BiFeO3(111) triferroic heterostructures

The spin and valley degrees of freedom in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides have potential applications in spintronics and valleytronics. However, nonvolatile control on the valley and spin degrees of freedom of two-dimensional ferromagnetic materials by multiferroic materials has been rarely reported. Here, the electronic structure of monolayer 2H-VSe2/BiFeO3(111) triferroic heterostructures has been investigated by first-principles calculations. It is found that the V magnetic moment, spin and valley splitting of monolayer VSe2 can be affected by the BiFeO3(111) substrate with ferroelectric polarization and G-type antiferromagnetic order. Particularly, the reversed orientation of ferroelectric polarization and magnetic order of the BiFeO3(111) substrate can modulate the magnitude of spin and valley splitting, and change the spin splitting direction and the spin-dependent valley state in the valence band of monolayer VSe2. The coupling among ferroelectrics, magnetism and ferrovalley is realized in 2H-VSe2/BiFeO3(111) triferroic heterostructures. These results provide a new platform for multiferroic regulation in spintronics and valleytronics, which can enrich the diversity for high-performance devices based on two dimensional multiferroic heterostructures.

Spin-polarized electrons in monolayer MoS2

Coulomb interactions are crucial in determining the ground state of an ideal two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the limit of low electron densities¹. In this regime, Coulomb interactions dominate over single-particle phase-space filling. In silicon and gallium arsenide, electrons are typically localized at these low densities. In contrast, in transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), Coulomb correlations in a 2DEG can be anticipated at experimentally relevant electron densities. Here, we investigate a 2DEG in a gated monolayer of the TMD molybdenum disulfide². We measure the optical susceptibility, a probe of the 2DEG which is local, minimally invasive and spin selective³. In a magnetic field of 9.0 T and at electron concentrations up to n ≃ 5 × 10¹² cm^-2, we present evidence that the ground state is spin-polarized. Out of the four available conduction bands^4,5, only two are occupied. These two bands have the same spin but different valley quantum numbers. Our results suggest that only two bands are occupied even in the absence of a magnetic field. The spin polarization increases with decreasing 2DEG density, suggesting that Coulomb interactions are a key aspect of the symmetry breaking. We propose that exchange couplings align the spins⁶. The Bohr radius is so small⁷ that even electrons located far apart in phase-space interact with each other⁶.

Screening Magnetic Two-Dimensional Atomic Crystals with Nontrivial Electronic Topology

To date, only a few two-dimensional (2D) magnetic crystals have been experimentally confirmed, such as CrI₃ and CrGeTe₃, all with very low Curie temperatures ( T_C). High-throughput first-principles screening over a large set of materials yields 89 magnetic monolayers including 56 ferromagnetic (FM) and 33 antiferromagnetic compounds. Among them, 24 FM monolayers are promising candidates possessing T_C higher than that of CrI₃. High T_C monolayers with fascinating electronic phases are identified: (i) quantum anomalous Hall and valley Hall effects coexist in a single material RuCl₃ or VCl₃, leading to a valley-polarized quantum anomalous Hall state; (ii) TiBr₃, Co₂NiO₆, and V₂H₃O₅ are revealed to be half-metals. More importantly, a new type of fermion dubbed type-II Weyl ring is discovered in ScCl. Our work provides a database of 2D magnetic materials, which could guide experimental realization of high-temperature magnetic monolayers with exotic electronic states for future spintronics and quantum computing applications.

Ambipolar Landau levels and strong band-selective carrier interactions in monolayer WSe2

Monolayers (MLs) of transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) exhibit unusual electrical behaviour under magnetic fields due to their intrinsic spin-orbit coupling and lack of inversion symmetry^1-15. Although recent experiments have also identified the critical role of carrier interactions within these materials^11,15, a complete mapping of the ambipolar Landau level (LL) sequence has remained elusive. Here we use single-electron transistors (SETs)^16,17 to perform LL spectroscopy in ML WSe₂, and provide a comprehensive picture of the electronic structure of a ML TMD for both electrons and holes. We find that the LLs differ notably between the two bands, and follow a unique sequence in the valence band (VB) that is dominated by strong Zeeman effects. The Zeeman splitting in the VB is several times higher than the cyclotron energy, far exceeding the predictions of a single-particle model and, moreover, tunes significantly with doping ¹⁵ . This implies exceptionally strong many-body interactions, and suggests that ML WSe₂ can serve as a host for new correlated-electron phenomena.