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Abstract Excitons are spin integer particles that are predicted to condense into a coherent quantum state at sufficiently low temperature. Here by using photocurrent imaging we report experimental evidence of formation and efficient transport of non-equilibrium excitons in Bi2-xSbxSe3nanoribbons. The photocurrent distributions are independent of electric field, indicating that photoexcited electrons and holes form excitons. Remarkably, these excitons can transport over hundreds of micrometers along the topological insulator (TI) nanoribbons before recombination at up to 40 K. The macroscopic transport distance, combined with short carrier lifetime obtained from transient photocurrent measurements, indicates an exciton diffusion coefficient at least 36 m2 s−1, which corresponds to a mobility of 6 × 104 m2 V−1 s−1at 7 K and is four order of magnitude higher than the value reported for free carriers in TIs. The observation of highly dissipationless exciton transport implies the formation of superfluid-like exciton condensate at the surface of TIs.
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This content will become publicly available on January 3, 2026
Imaging interlayer exciton superfluidity in a 2D semiconductor heterostructure
Excitons, which are Coulomb bound electron-hole pairs, are composite bosons and thus at low temperature can form a superfluid state with a single well-defined amplitude and phase. We directly image this macroscopic exciton superfluid state in an hBN-separated MoSe2-WSe2heterostructure. At high density, we identify quasi-long-range order over the entire active area of our sample, through spatially resolved coherence measurements. By varying the exciton density and sample temperature, we map out the phase diagram of the superfluid. We observe the superfluid phase persisting to a temperature of 15 K, which is in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. This works paves the way to realizing on chip superfluid structures capable of studying fundamental physical behaviors and quantum devices that use superfluidity.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2054572
- PAR ID:
- 10621732
- Publisher / Repository:
- AAAS
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Science Advances
- Volume:
- 11
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2375-2548
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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