The role of non-equilibrium populations in dark exciton formation

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Werner, Paul, Bennecke, Wiebke, Bange, Jan Philipp, Meneghini, Giuseppe, Schmitt, David, Merboldt, Marco, Seiler, Anna M., AlMutairi, AbdulAziz, Watanabe, Kenji, Taniguchi, Takashi, Jansen, G. S. Matthijs, Liu, Junde, Steil, Daniel, Hofmann, Stephan, Weitz, R. Thomas, Malic, Ermin, Mathias, Stefan, Reutzel, Marcel
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Werner, Paul
Bennecke, Wiebke
Bange, Jan Philipp
Meneghini, Giuseppe
Schmitt, David
Merboldt, Marco
Seiler, Anna M.
AlMutairi, AbdulAziz
Watanabe, Kenji
Taniguchi, Takashi
Jansen, G. S. Matthijs
Liu, Junde
Steil, Daniel
Hofmann, Stephan
Weitz, R. Thomas
Malic, Ermin
Mathias, Stefan
Reutzel, Marcel
author_facet Werner, Paul
Bennecke, Wiebke
Bange, Jan Philipp
Meneghini, Giuseppe
Schmitt, David
Merboldt, Marco
Seiler, Anna M.
AlMutairi, AbdulAziz
Watanabe, Kenji
Taniguchi, Takashi
Jansen, G. S. Matthijs
Liu, Junde
Steil, Daniel
Hofmann, Stephan
Weitz, R. Thomas
Malic, Ermin
Mathias, Stefan
Reutzel, Marcel
contents In two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide structures, the optical excitation of a bright exciton may be followed by the formation of a plethora of lower energy dark states. In these formation and relaxation processes between different exciton species, non-equilibrium exciton and phonon populations play a dominant role, but remain so far largely unexplored as most states are inaccessible by regular spectroscopies. Here, on the example of homobilayer 2H-MoS$_2$, we realize direct access to the full exciton relaxation cascade from experiment and theory. By measuring the energy- and in-plane momentum-resolved photoemission spectral function, we reveal a distinct fingerprint for dark excitons in a non-equilibrium excitonic occupation distribution. In excellent agreement with microscopic many-particle calculations, we quantify the timescales for the formation of a non-equilibrium dark excitonic occupation and its subsequent thermalization to 85~fs and 150~fs, respectively. Our results provide a previously inaccessible view of the complete exciton relaxation cascade, which is of paramount importance for the future characterization of non-equilibrium excitonic phases and the efficient design of optoelectronic devices based on two-dimensional materials.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_06074
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The role of non-equilibrium populations in dark exciton formation
Werner, Paul
Bennecke, Wiebke
Bange, Jan Philipp
Meneghini, Giuseppe
Schmitt, David
Merboldt, Marco
Seiler, Anna M.
AlMutairi, AbdulAziz
Watanabe, Kenji
Taniguchi, Takashi
Jansen, G. S. Matthijs
Liu, Junde
Steil, Daniel
Hofmann, Stephan
Weitz, R. Thomas
Malic, Ermin
Mathias, Stefan
Reutzel, Marcel
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
In two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide structures, the optical excitation of a bright exciton may be followed by the formation of a plethora of lower energy dark states. In these formation and relaxation processes between different exciton species, non-equilibrium exciton and phonon populations play a dominant role, but remain so far largely unexplored as most states are inaccessible by regular spectroscopies. Here, on the example of homobilayer 2H-MoS$_2$, we realize direct access to the full exciton relaxation cascade from experiment and theory. By measuring the energy- and in-plane momentum-resolved photoemission spectral function, we reveal a distinct fingerprint for dark excitons in a non-equilibrium excitonic occupation distribution. In excellent agreement with microscopic many-particle calculations, we quantify the timescales for the formation of a non-equilibrium dark excitonic occupation and its subsequent thermalization to 85~fs and 150~fs, respectively. Our results provide a previously inaccessible view of the complete exciton relaxation cascade, which is of paramount importance for the future characterization of non-equilibrium excitonic phases and the efficient design of optoelectronic devices based on two-dimensional materials.
title The role of non-equilibrium populations in dark exciton formation
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.06074