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Unveiling strain-enhanced moiré exciton localization in twisted van der Waals homostructures

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Abstract

Moiré superlattices, arising from the controlled twisting of van der Waals homostructures at specific angles, have emerged as a promising platform for quantum emission applications. Concurrently, the manipulation of strain provides a versatile strategy to finely adjust electronic band structures, enhance exciton luminescence efficiency, and establish a robust foundation for twodimensional quantum light sources. However, the intricate interplay between strain and moiré potential remains partially unexplored. Here, we introduce a meticulously designed fusion of strain engineering and the twisted 2L-WSe2/2L-WSe2 homobilayers, resulting in the precise localization of moiré excitons. Employing low-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy, we unveil the emergence of highly localized moiré-enhanced emission, characterized by the presence of multiple distinct emission lines. Furthermore, our investigation demonstrates the effective regulation of moiré potential depths through strain engineering, with the potential depths of strained and unstrained regions differing by 91%. By combining both experimental and theoretical approaches, our study elucidates the complex relationship between strain and moiré potential, thereby opening avenues for generating strain-induced moiré exciton single-photon sources.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their sincere gratitude to the diverse array of funding sources that have generously supported this research endeavor. Notably, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52373311), the Science Talent Program of China, the Hunan Provincial Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (No. 2020JJ2059), the Hunan Province Key Research and Development Project (No. 2019GK2233), and the Youth Innovation Team (No. 2019012) of Central South University (CSU) have played an essential role in facilitating the success of this study. Furthermore, the Science and Technology Innovation Basic Research Project of Shenzhen (No. JCYJ20190806144418859), the Key Program of the Science and Technology Department of Hunan Province (Nos. 2019XK2001 and 2020XK2001), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 62090035 and U19A2090) have also made significant contributions to the advancement of this work. The support provided by the High-Performance Complex Manufacturing Key State Lab Project at CSU (No. ZZYJKT2020-12) has been of immeasurable value, greatly expediting the research process. Acknowledgment is also extended to the Australian Research Council (ARC Discovery Project, DP180102976) for its pivotal role in driving forward this research agenda. Additionally, J. T. W. extends gratitude for the support received from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 92263202 and 11974387), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDB33000000), and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2020YFA0711502). The authors also wish to convey their deep appreciation to the Beijing Super Cloud Computing Center (BSCC, http://www.blsc.cn) for granting access to high-performance computing (HPC) resources, which have been instrumental in yielding the research outcomes detailed in this paper. Finally, the authors hold profound gratitude for the support of the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China (No. 2022M713546), a vital contribution that has substantially propelled the advancement of this research endeavor. This work was supported in part by the High-Performance Computing Center of Central South University.

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  1. Henry Rui He and Haihong Zheng contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Quantum Physics, School of Physics, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Henry Rui He, Haihong Zheng, Biao Wu, Shaofei Li, Junnan Ding & Yanping Liu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Precision Manufacturing for Extreme Service Performance, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Haihong Zheng

  3. School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Zongwen Liu

  4. Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Jian-Tao Wang

  5. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China

    Anlian Pan

  6. State Key Laboratory of High-Performance Complex Manufacturing, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Yanping Liu

  7. Shenzhen Research Institute of Central South University, Shenzhen, 51800, China

    Yanping Liu

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  1. Henry Rui He
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Correspondence to Yanping Liu.

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He, H.R., Zheng, H., Wu, B. et al. Unveiling strain-enhanced moiré exciton localization in twisted van der Waals homostructures. Nano Res. 17, 3245–3252 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-6205-x

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