Layer Rotation-Angle-Dependent Excitonic Absorption in van der Waals Heterostructures Revealed by Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy

Pranjal Kumar Gogoi*, Yung Chang Lin, Ryosuke Senga, Hannu Pekka Komsa, Swee Liang Wong, Dongzhi Chi, Arkady V. Krasheninnikov, Lain Jong Li, Mark B.H. Breese, Stephen J. Pennycook, Andrew T.S. Wee, Kazu Suenaga

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Heterostructures comprising van der Waals (vdW) stacked transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) monolayers are a fascinating class of two-dimensional (2D) materials. The presence of interlayer excitons, where the electron and the hole remain spatially separated in the two layers due to ultrafast charge transfer, is an intriguing feature of these heterostructures. The optoelectronic functionality of 2D heterostructure devices is critically dependent on the relative rotation angle of the layers. However, the role of the relative rotation angle of the constituent layers on intralayer absorption is not clear yet. Here, we investigate MoS2/WSe2 vdW heterostructures using monochromated low-loss electron energy loss (EEL) spectroscopy combined with aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and report that momentum conservation is a critical factor in the intralayer absorption of TMDC vdW heterostructures. The evolution of the intralayer excitonic low-loss EEL spectroscopy peak broadenings as a function of the rotation angle reveals that the interlayer charge transfer rate can be about an order of magnitude faster in the aligned (or anti-aligned) case than in the misaligned cases. These results provide a deeper insight into the role of momentum conservation, one of the fundamental principles governing charge transfer dynamics in 2D vdW heterostructures.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)9541-9550
JournalACS Nano
Volume13
Issue number8
Early online date25 Jul 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Aug 2019
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • electron energy loss spectroscopy
  • interlayer excitons
  • scanning transmission electron microscopy
  • ultrafast charge transfer
  • van der Waals heterostructure

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Layer Rotation-Angle-Dependent Excitonic Absorption in van der Waals Heterostructures Revealed by Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this