Dynamically tunable polarized mid-infrared light-emitting diodes from polarization singularities in a band-edge Weyl node
The polarization states of light-emitting devices in conventional semiconductors are typically deterministically fixed by optical transition selection rules. However, in emerging Weyl semiconductors, band-crossing Weyl nodes introduce exotic polarization contrasts, making emission polarization sensitive to carrier dynamics. Here, we demonstrate mid-infrared light-emitting diodes based on van der Waals tellurium, a Weyl semiconductor featuring a Weyl node precisely at the conduction band minimum (CBM). These devices demonstrate high polarization tunability, with linear polarization degrees continuously adjustable from ~100% (low carrier density) to 36% (high carrier density). First-principles calculations reveal that this tunability originates from polarization singularities induced by CBM-located Weyl nodes, where the polarization state is dynamically modulated by the quasi-Fermi level shift and hot-carrier recombination under varying injection densities. Our findings establish band-edge Weyl nodes as a promising platform for tunable polarized emitters and open alternative avenues for topological optoelectronics.
Authors
- Gan Yuan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8826-278X)
- Junrong Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8399-1324)
- Fengyuan Xuan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0624-882X)
- Xingang Hou
- Quanlong Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1680-4869)
- Xiangyi Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8634-3917)
- Bingyan Ren
- Jiao Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4812-4622)
- Junyong Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4653-6671)
- Feng Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7727-0488)
- Jiexi Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0835-4885)
- Kui Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4828-6450)
- Kai Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9378-0947)
- Weijie Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6597-7865)
- Yaning Liang
- Qinghua Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9930-4084)
- Dong Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5202-4250)
- Xicheng Yang
Institutions
- Shanghai University (CN)
- University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
- Shanghai University of Engineering Science (CN)
- Southeast University (BD)
- Suzhou Institute of Nano-tech and Nano-bionics (CN)
- Purple Mountain Laboratories (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-12-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66014-1
- Primary Topic
- Topological Materials and Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- Government of Jiangsu Province
- Basic Research Program of Jiangsu Province
- Suzhou Institute of Nanotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences