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Abstract Spectrally narrow optical resonances can be used to generate slow light, i.e., a large reduction in the group velocity. In a previous work, we developed hybrid 2D semiconductor plasmonic structures, which consist of propagating optical frequency surface-plasmon polaritons interacting with excitons in a semiconductor monolayer. Here, we use coupled exciton-surface plasmon polaritons (E-SPPs) in monolayer WSe 2 to demonstrate slow light with a 1300 fold decrease of the SPP group velocity. Specifically, we use a high resolution two-color laser technique where the nonlinear E-SPP response gives rise to ultra-narrow coherent population oscillation (CPO) resonances, resulting in a group velocity on order of 10 5  m/s. Our work paves the way toward on-chip actively switched delay lines and optical buffers that utilize 2D semiconductors as active elements. 

Interlayer excitons (IXs) in MoSe₂–WSe₂heterobilayers have generated interest as highly tunable light emitters in transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) heterostructures. Previous reports of spectrally narrow (<1 meV) photoluminescence (PL) emission lines at low temperature have been attributed to IXs localized by the moiré potential between the TMD layers. We show that spectrally narrow IX PL lines are present even when the moiré potential is suppressed by inserting a bilayer hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) spacer between the TMD layers. We compare the doping, electric field, magnetic field, and temperature dependence of IXs in a directly contacted MoSe₂–WSe₂region to those in a region separated by bilayer hBN. The doping, electric field, and temperature dependence of the narrow IX lines are similar for both regions, but their excitonic g-factors have opposite signs, indicating that the origin of narrow IX PL is not the moiré potential.

 

When semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures are stacked, the twist angle and lattice mismatch lead to a periodic moiré potential. As the angle between the layers changes, so do the electronic properties. As the angle approaches 0° or 60°, interesting characteristics and properties, such as modulations in the band edges, flat bands, and confinement, are predicted to occur. Here, we report scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy measurements on the bandgaps and band modulations in MoSe 2 /WSe 2 heterostructures with near 0° rotation (R-type) and near 60° rotation (H-type). We find a modulation of the bandgap for both stacking configurations with a larger modulation for R-type than for H-type as predicted by theory. Furthermore, local density of states images show that electrons are localized differently at the valence band and conduction band edges. 

We report the fabrication of hexagonal-boron-nitride (hBN) encapsulated multi-terminal WSe_2 Hall bars with 2D/2D low-temperature Ohmic contacts as a platform for investigating the two-dimensional (2D) metal-insulator transition. We demonstrate that the WSe_2 devices exhibit Ohmic behavior down to 0.25 K and at low enough excitation voltages to avoid current-heating effects. Additionally, the high-quality hBN-encapsulated WSe_2 devices in ideal Hall-bar geometry enable us to accurately determine the carrier density. Measurements of the temperature (T) and density (n_s) dependence of the conductivity \sigma(T,n_s) demonstrate scaling behavior consistent with a metal-insulator quantum phase transition driven by electron-electron interactions, but where disorder-induced local magnetic moments are also present. Our findings pave the way for further studies of the fundamental quantum mechanical properties of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides using the same contact engineering.