Directional interlayer spin-valley transfer in two-dimensional heterostructures
10.1038/ncomms13747
Crossref journal-article
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Nature Communications (297)
Abstract

AbstractVan der Waals heterostructures formed by two different monolayer semiconductors have emerged as a promising platform for new optoelectronic and spin/valleytronic applications. In addition to its atomically thin nature, a two-dimensional semiconductor heterostructure is distinct from its three-dimensional counterparts due to the unique coupled spin-valley physics of its constituent monolayers. Here, we report the direct observation that an optically generated spin-valley polarization in one monolayer can be transferred between layers of a two-dimensional MoSe2–WSe2 heterostructure. Using non-degenerate optical circular dichroism spectroscopy, we show that charge transfer between two monolayers conserves spin-valley polarization and is only weakly dependent on the twist angle between layers. Our work points to a new spin-valley pumping scheme in nanoscale devices, provides a fundamental understanding of spin-valley transfer across the two-dimensional interface, and shows the potential use of two-dimensional semiconductors as a spin-valley generator in two-dimensional spin/valleytronic devices for storing and processing information.

Bibliography

Schaibley, J. R., Rivera, P., Yu, H., Seyler, K. L., Yan, J., Mandrus, D. G., Taniguchi, T., Watanabe, K., Yao, W., & Xu, X. (2016). Directional interlayer spin-valley transfer in two-dimensional heterostructures. Nature Communications, 7(1).

Authors 10
  1. John R. Schaibley (first)
  2. Pasqual Rivera (additional)
  3. Hongyi Yu (additional)
  4. Kyle L. Seyler (additional)
  5. Jiaqiang Yan (additional)
  6. David G. Mandrus (additional)
  7. Takashi Taniguchi (additional)
  8. Kenji Watanabe (additional)
  9. Wang Yao (additional)
  10. Xiaodong Xu (additional)
References 37 Referenced 116
  1. Wolf, S. et al. Spintronics: a spin-based electronics vision for the future. Science 294, 1488–1495 (2001). (10.1126/science.1065389) / Science by S Wolf (2001)
  2. Ross, J. S. et al. Electrical control of neutral and charged excitons in a monolayer semiconductor. Nat. Commun. 4, 1474 (2013). (10.1038/ncomms2498) / Nat. Commun. by JS Ross (2013)
  3. Jones, A. M. et al. Optical generation of excitonic valley coherence in monolayer WSe2 . Nat. Nanotech. 8, 634–638 (2013). (10.1038/nnano.2013.151) / Nat. Nanotech. by AM Jones (2013)
  4. Li, Y. et al. Valley splitting and polarization by the Zeeman effect in monolayer MoSe2 . Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 266804 (2014). (10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.266804) / Phys. Rev. Lett. by Y Li (2014)
  5. Aivazian, G. et al. Magnetic control of valley pseudospin in monolayer WSe2 . Nat. Phys. 11, 148–152 (2015). (10.1038/nphys3201) / Nat. Phys. by G Aivazian (2015)
  6. Xiao, D., Liu, G.-B., Feng, W., Xu, X. & Yao, W. Coupled spin and valley physics in monolayers of MoS2 and other group-VI dichalcogenides. Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 196802 (2012). (10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.196802) / Phys. Rev. Lett. by D Xiao (2012)
  7. Hsu, W.-T. et al. Optically initialized robust valley-polarized holes in monolayer WSe2 . Nat. Commun. 6, 8963 (2015). (10.1038/ncomms9963) / Nat. Commun. by W-T Hsu (2015)
  8. Xie, L. & Cui, X. Manipulating spin-polarized photocurrents in 2D transition metal dichalcogenides. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 3746–3750 (2016). (10.1073/pnas.1523012113) / Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA by L Xie (2016)
  9. Cao, T. et al. Valley-selective circular dichroism of monolayer molybdenum disulphide. Nat. Commun. 3, 887 (2012). (10.1038/ncomms1882) / Nat. Commun. by T Cao (2012)
  10. Zeng, H., Dai, J., Yao, W., Xiao, D. & Cui, X. Valley polarization in MoS2 monolayers by optical pumping. Nat. Nanotech. 7, 490–493 (2012). (10.1038/nnano.2012.95) / Nat. Nanotech. by H Zeng (2012)
  11. Mak, K. F., He, K. L., Shan, J. & Heinz, T. F. Control of valley polarization in monolayer MoS2 by optical helicity. Nat. Nanotech. 7, 494–498 (2012). (10.1038/nnano.2012.96) / Nat. Nanotech. by KF Mak (2012)
  12. Yu, H., Liu, G.-B., Gong, P., Xu, X. & Yao, W. Dirac cones and Dirac saddle points of bright excitons in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides. Nat. Commun. 5, 3876 (2014). (10.1038/ncomms4876) / Nat. Commun. by H Yu (2014)
  13. Zhu, C. et al. Exciton valley dynamics probed by Kerr rotation in WSe2 monolayers. Phys. Rev. B 90, 161302 (2014). (10.1103/PhysRevB.90.161302) / Phys. Rev. B by C Zhu (2014)
  14. Wang, G. et al. Valley dynamics probed through charged and neutral exciton emission in monolayer WSe2 . Phys. Rev. B 90, 075413 (2014). (10.1103/PhysRevB.90.075413) / Phys. Rev. B by G Wang (2014)
  15. Moody, G. et al. Intrinsic homogeneous linewidth and broadening mechanisms of excitons in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides. Nat. Commun. 6, 8315 (2015). (10.1038/ncomms9315) / Nat. Commun. by G Moody (2015)
  16. Wang, H. et al. Radiative lifetimes of excitons and trions in monolayers of the metal dichalcogenide MoS2 . Phys. Rev. 93, 045407 (2016). (10.1103/PhysRevB.93.045407) / Phys. Rev. by H Wang (2016)
  17. Kang, J., Tongay, S., Zhou, J., Li, J. & Wu, J. Band offsets and heterostructures of two-dimensional semiconductors. Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 012111 (2013). (10.1063/1.4774090) / Appl. Phys. Lett. by J Kang (2013)
  18. Kośmider, K. & Fernández-Rossier, J. Electronic properties of the MoS2-WS2 heterojunction. Phys. Rev. B 87, 075451 (2013). (10.1103/PhysRevB.87.075451) / Phys. Rev. B by K Kośmider (2013)
  19. Hong, X. et al. Ultrafast charge transfer in atomically thin MoS2/WS2 heterostructures. Nat. Nanotech. 9, 682–686 (2014). (10.1038/nnano.2014.167) / Nat. Nanotech. by X Hong (2014)
  20. Ceballos, F., Bellus, M. Z., Chiu, H.-Y. & Zhao, H. Ultrafast charge separation and indirect exciton formation in a MoS2–MoSe2 van der Waals heterostructure. ACS Nano 8, 12717–12724 (2014). (10.1021/nn505736z) / ACS Nano by F Ceballos (2014)
  21. Furchi, M. M., Pospischil, A., Libisch, F., Burgdörfer, J. & Mueller, T. Photovoltaic effect in an electrically tunable van der Waals heterojunction. Nano Lett. 14, 4785–4791 (2014). (10.1021/nl501962c) / Nano Lett. by MM Furchi (2014)
  22. Lee, C.-H. et al. Atomically thin p–n junctions with van der Waals heterointerfaces. Nat. Nanotech. 9, 676–681 (2014). (10.1038/nnano.2014.150) / Nat. Nanotech. by C-H Lee (2014)
  23. Huo, N. et al. Novel and enhanced optoelectronic performances of multilayer MoS2–WS2 heterostructure transistors. Adv. Funct. Mater. 24, 7025–7031 (2014). (10.1002/adfm.201401504) / Adv. Funct. Mater. by N Huo (2014)
  24. Rivera, P. et al. Observation of long-lived interlayer excitons in monolayer MoSe2–WSe2 heterostructures. Nat. Commun. 6, 6242 (2015). (10.1038/ncomms7242) / Nat. Commun. by P Rivera (2015)
  25. Yu, H., Wang, Y., Tong, Q., Xu, X. & Yao, W. Anomalous light cones and valley optical selection rules of interlayer excitons in twisted heterobilayers. Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 187002 (2015). (10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.187002) / Phys. Rev. Lett. by H Yu (2015)
  26. Rivera, P. et al. Valley-polarized exciton dynamics in a 2D semiconductor heterostructure. Science 351, 688–691 (2016). (10.1126/science.aac7820) / Science by P Rivera (2016)
  27. Maialle, M. Z., de Andrada e Silva, E. A. & Sham, L. J. Exciton spin dynamics in quantum wells. Phys. Rev. B 47, 15776–15788 (1993). (10.1103/PhysRevB.47.15776) / Phys. Rev. B by MZ Maialle (1993)
  28. Moody, G., Schaibley, J. & Xu, X. Exciton dynamics in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides. JOSA B 33, C39–C49 (2016). (10.1364/JOSAB.33.000C39) / JOSA B by G Moody (2016)
  29. Wang, G. et al. Giant enhancement of the optical second-harmonic emission of WSe2 monolayers by laser excitation at exciton resonances. Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 097403 (2015). (10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.097403) / Phys. Rev. Lett. by G Wang (2015)
  30. Seyler, K. L. et al. Electrical control of second-harmonic generation in a WSe2 monolayer transistor. Nat. Nanotech. 10, 407–411 (2015). (10.1038/nnano.2015.73) / Nat. Nanotech. by KL Seyler (2015)
  31. Li, Y. et al. Probing symmetry properties of few-layer MoS2 and h-BN by optical second-harmonic generation. Nano Lett. 13, 3329–3333 (2013). (10.1021/nl401561r) / Nano Lett. by Y Li (2013)
  32. Kumar, N. et al. Second harmonic microscopy of monolayer MoS2 . Phys. Rev. B 87, 161403 (2013). (10.1103/PhysRevB.87.161403) / Phys. Rev. B by N Kumar (2013)
  33. Zomer, P., Guimarães, M., Brant, J., Tombros, N. & van Wees, B. Fast pick up technique for high quality heterostructures of bilayer graphene and hexagonal boron nitride. Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 013101 (2014). (10.1063/1.4886096) / Appl. Phys. Lett. by P Zomer (2014)
  34. Schaibley, J. R. et al. Population pulsation resonances of excitons in monolayer MoSe2 with sub-1 μeV linewidths. Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 137402 (2015). (10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.137402) / Phys. Rev. Lett. by JR Schaibley (2015)
  35. Rigosi, A. F., Hill, H. M., Li, Y., Chernikov, A. & Heinz, T. F. Probing interlayer interactions in transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures by optical spectroscopy: MoS2/WS2 and MoSe2/WSe2 . Nano Lett. 15, 5033–5038 (2015). (10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b01055) / Nano Lett. by AF Rigosi (2015)
  36. Yu, H., Cui, X., Xu, X. & Yao, W. Valley excitons in two-dimensional semiconductors. Natl Sci. Rev. 2, 57–70 (2015). (10.1093/nsr/nwu078) / Natl Sci. Rev. by H Yu (2015)
  37. Fogler, M., Butov, L. & Novoselov, K. High-temperature superfluidity with indirect excitons in van der Waals heterostructures. Nat. Commun. 5, 4555 (2014). (10.1038/ncomms5555) / Nat. Commun. by M Fogler (2014)
Dates
Type When
Created 8 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 14, 2016, 5:20 a.m.)
Deposited 2 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 4, 2023, 4:31 a.m.)
Indexed 3 weeks, 4 days ago (July 28, 2025, 5:54 p.m.)
Issued 8 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 14, 2016)
Published 8 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 14, 2016)
Published Online 8 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 14, 2016)
Funders 0

None

@article{Schaibley_2016, title={Directional interlayer spin-valley transfer in two-dimensional heterostructures}, volume={7}, ISSN={2041-1723}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13747}, DOI={10.1038/ncomms13747}, number={1}, journal={Nature Communications}, publisher={Springer Science and Business Media LLC}, author={Schaibley, John R. and Rivera, Pasqual and Yu, Hongyi and Seyler, Kyle L. and Yan, Jiaqiang and Mandrus, David G. and Taniguchi, Takashi and Watanabe, Kenji and Yao, Wang and Xu, Xiaodong}, year={2016}, month=dec }