Brightening Interlayer Excitons by Electric-Field-Driven Hole Transfer in Bilayer <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>WSe</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>2</mml:m

We observe the interlayer A_{1s}^{I}, A_{2s}^{I}, and B_{1s}^{I} excitons in bilayer WSe_{2} under applied electric fields using reflectance contrast spectroscopy. Remarkably, these interlayer excitons remain optically bright despite being well separated from symmetry-matched intralayer excitons-a regime where conventional two-level coupling models fail unless unphysically large coupling strengths are assumed. To uncover the origin of this brightening, we perform density functional theory (DFT) calculations and find that the applied electric field distorts the valence-band Bloch states, driving the hole wave function from one layer to the other. This field-driven interlayer hole transfer imparts intralayer character to the interlayer excitons, thereby enhancing their oscillator strength without requiring hybridization with bright intralayer states. Simulations confirm that this mechanism accounts for the major contribution to the observed brightness, with excitonic hybridization playing only a minor role. Our results identify interlayer hole transfer as a key mechanism for brightening interlayer excitons in bilayer transition metal dichalcogenides, especially when inter- and intralayer excitons are energetically well separated.

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Journal
Physical Review Letters
Published
2026-02-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/mjhj-83wc
Primary Topic
2D Materials and Applications
Type
article
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Brightening Interlayer Excitons by Electric-Field-Driven Hole Transfer in Bilayer <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>WSe</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>2</mml:m

Zhaoran Xu, Chun Hung Lui, Nathaniel M. Gabor, Yia‐Chung Chang et al.
Physical Review Letters
2D Materials and Applications
article

Brightening Interlayer Excitons by Electric-Field-Driven Hole Transfer in Bilayer <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>WSe</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>2</mml:m

Zhaoran Xu, Chun Hung Lui, Nathaniel M. Gabor, Yia‐Chung Chang, Raj Kumar Paudel, Erfu Liu, Anonymous, Yiyang Sun, Soonyoung Cha, Takashi Taniguchi, Rukai Cang
article en

Abstract

We observe the interlayer A_{1s}^{I}, A_{2s}^{I}, and B_{1s}^{I} excitons in bilayer WSe_{2} under applied electric fields using reflectance contrast spectroscopy. Remarkably, these interlayer excitons remain optically bright despite being well separated from symmetry-matched intralayer excitons-a regime where conventional two-level coupling models fail unless unphysically large coupling strengths are assumed. To uncover the origin of this brightening, we perform density functional theory (DFT) calculations and find that the applied electric field distorts the valence-band Bloch states, driving the hole wave function from one layer to the other. This field-driven interlayer hole transfer imparts intralayer character to the interlayer excitons, thereby enhancing their oscillator strength without requiring hybridization with bright intralayer states. Simulations confirm that this mechanism accounts for the major contribution to the observed brightness, with excitonic hybridization playing only a minor role. Our results identify interlayer hole transfer as a key mechanism for brightening interlayer excitons in bilayer transition metal dichalcogenides, especially when inter- and intralayer excitons are energetically well separated.

Physical Review LettersVol. 136(9)
University of California, Riverside (US), National Institute for Materials Science (JP), Sookmyung Women's University (KR), Carnegie Mellon University (US), Academia Sinica (TW), Nanjing University (CN), National Cheng Kung University (TW)
Openalex Percentile: Top 68%
2D Materials and Applications
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