Latest News

• Maja Feierabend: Doctoral thesis successfully defended. Congratulations!
• Three different PhD awards for Samuel Brem Congratulations!
• Visualization of dark excitons (published in Nano Lett.) In an excellent collaboration with the groups of Ulrich Höfer and Rupert Huber, we have combined time-resolved ARPES measurements with microscopic theory to directly visualize the ultrafast formation dynamics of dark excitons in WS2 monolayers. Our work was just published in Nano Letters.
• New insights into non-classical exciton transport (published in PRL) In an excellent collaboration with Alexey Chernikov (University of Dresden, Germany) und Mikhail Glazov (Ioffe Institute, Russia), we have gained new microscopic insights into non-classical exciton transport at low temperatures in WSe2 monolayers. Our work was published in Physical Review Letters (with Editors’s Suggestion).
• Rapid exciton dynamics in MoS2 bilayers (published in PRL) In a joint experiment-theory study with the groups of Elaine Li (University of Texas), Ulrike Woggon and Andreas Knorr (TU Berlin), we have revealed a much faster exciton dynamics in MoS2 bilayers compared to the monolayer case. This is traced back to an efficient intervalley exciton-phonon scattering involving momentum-dark exciton states. Our work was published in Physical Review Letters.
• Valley-exchange coupling probed by angle-resolved photoluminescence (published in Nanoscale Horizons) We have explored the role of the valley-exchange interaction on the optical properties of a TMD monolayer. In particular we propose that, by changing the optical polarisation, temperature and ex-ternal magnetic field, angle-resolved photoluminescence acts as an unambiguous probe of the valley-exchange interaction. This work was done in collaboration with the research groups of Witlef Wieczorek &Saroj Dash (Chalmers) and Christian Schneider (Oldenburg). Our work was published in Nanoscale Horizons.
• Dark exciton anti-funneling in atomically thin semiconductors (published in Nature Communications) In this joint theory-experiment work, we have combined spatiotemporal photoluminescence measurements with microscopic many-particle theory to track the way of excitons in time, space and energy. We found that excitons surprisingly move away from high-strain regions. This anti-funneling behavior can be traced back to the crucial role of propagating dark excitons which possess an opposite strain-induced energy variation compared to bright excitons. The findings open new possibilities to control the transport in materials dominated by excitons. This work was done in collaboration with the research group of Rudolf Bratschitsch (University of Münster) and it was published in Nature Communications.
• Terahertz Fingerprint of Monolayer Wigner Crystals (published in Nano Letters) Wigner crystals are solid, crystalline phases of electrons, formed at low temperatures in order to minimize their repulsive energy. This formation is one of the most intriguing quantum phase transitions and their experimental realization remains challenging since their theoretical prediction. However, the strong Coulomb interaction in monolayer semiconductors represents a unique opportunity for the realization of Wigner crystals without external magnetic fields. In this work, we predicted that the formation of monolayer Wigner crystals can be detected by their terahertz response spectrum, which exhibits a characteristic sequence of internal optical transitions. Moreover, a characteristic shift of the peak position as a function of charge density for different atomically thin materials was predicted and showed how the results can be generalized to an arbitrary two-dimensional system. The results will guide future experiments toward the detection of Wigner crystallization and help to study the interaction dynamics in pure and generalized Wigner crystals in twisted bilayers.
• Moire Exciton Polaritons in twisted materials (published in Nano Letters) Twisted atomically thin semiconductors are characterized by moire excitons. Their hybridization with photons in the strong coupling regime for heterostructures integrated in an optical cavity has not been well understood yet. In this work, we combined an excitonic density matrix formalism with a Hopfield approach to provide microscopic insights into moire exciton polaritons. In particular, they show that exciton-light coupling, polariton energy, and even the number of polariton branches can be controlled via the twist angle. These new hybrid light-exciton states become delocalized relative to the constituent excitons due to the mixing with light and higher-energy excitons. The system can be interpreted as a natural quantum metamaterial with a periodicity that can be engineered via the twist angle. The work has been published in Nano Letters.
• Formation of moiré interlayer excitons in space and time (published in Nature) Moiré superlattices in atomically thin van der Waals heterostructures hold great promise for extended control of electronic and valleytronic lifetimes, the confinement of excitons in artificial moiré lattices and the formation of exotic quantum phases. Such moiré-induced emergent phenomena are particularly strong for interlayer excitons, where the hole and the electron are localized in different layers of the heterostructure. To exploit the full potential of correlated moiré and exciton physics, a thorough understanding of the ultrafast interlayer exciton formation process and the real-space wavefunction confinement is indispensable. Here we show that femtosecond photoemission momentum microscopy provides quantitative access to these key properties of the moiré interlayer excitons. First, we elucidate that interlayer excitons are dominantly formed through femtosecond exciton–phonon scattering and subsequent charge transfer at the interlayer-hybridized Σ valleys. Second, we show that interlayer excitons exhibit a momentum fingerprint that is a direct hallmark of the superlattice moiré modification. Third, we reconstruct the wavefunction distribution of the electronic part of the exciton and compare the size with the real-space moiré superlattice. Our work provides direct access to interlayer exciton formation dynamics in space and time and reveals opportunities to study correlated moiré and exciton physics for the future realization of exotic quantum phases of matter.
• Interface engineering of charge-transfer excitons in 2D lateral heterostructures (published in Nature Communications) The existence of bound charge transfer (CT) excitons at the interface of monolayer lateral heterojunctions has been debated in literature, but contrary to the case of interlayer excitons in vertical heterostructure their observation still has to be confirmed. Here, we present a microscopic study investigating signatures of bound CT excitons in photoluminescence spectra at the interface of hBN-encapsulated lateral MoSe2-WSe2 heterostructures. Based on a fully microscopic and material-specific theory, we reveal the many-particle processes behind the formation of CT excitons and how they can be tuned via interface- and dielectric engineering. For junction widths smaller than the Coulomb-induced Bohr radius we predict the appearance of a low-energy CT exciton. The theoretical prediction is compared with experimental low-temperature photoluminescence measurements showing emission in the bound CT excitons energy range. We show that for hBN-encapsulated heterostructures, CT excitons exhibit small binding energies of just a few tens meV and at the same time large dipole moments, making them promising materials for optoelectronic applications (benefiting from an efficient exciton dissociation and fast dipole-driven exciton propagation). Our joint theory-experiment study presents a significant step towards a microscopic understanding of optical properties of technologically promising 2D lateral heterostructures.
• Electrical control of hybrid exciton transport in a van der Waals heterostructure (published in Nature Photonics) Interactions between out-of-plane dipoles in bosonic gases enable the long-range propagation of excitons. The lack of direct control over collective dipolar properties has so far limited the degrees of tunability and the microscopic understanding of exciton transport. In this work we modulate the layer hybridization and interplay between many-body interactions of excitons in a van der Waals heterostructure with an applied vertical electric field. By performing spatiotemporally resolved measurements supported by microscopic theory, we uncover the dipole-dependent properties and transport of excitons with different degrees of hybridization. Moreover, we find constant emission quantum yields of the transporting species as a function of excitation power with radiative decay mechanisms dominating over nonradiative ones, a fundamental requirement for efficient excitonic devices. Our findings provide a complete picture of the many-body effects in the transport of dilute exciton gases, and have crucial implications for studying emerging states of matter such as Bose–Einstein condensation and optoelectronic applications based on exciton propagation.
• Day of Physics - Seeing the world through different eyes The physics department invited interested people to an extensive experience program on May 6 and guided them through the world of physics throughout the day. There were various experiments, guided tours through research laboratories and the observatory, an exciting physics show and finally the stage opened for the "Science Slam". A great and successful day with many visitors and accompanied by a film team.