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Semiconductor optics

Excitons dance as light conducts

Nature Physics volume 19, pages 149–150 (2023)Cite this article

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Ultrafast laser fields are able to widely tune the physical properties of semiconductors by generating virtual states. Using strong fields at energies below the optical bandgap, control of excitons in two-dimensional semiconductors has now been demonstrated.

Like a conductor who uses their baton to direct and synchronize an orchestra, powerful laser pulses can interact strongly with matter and coherently drive electronic states. Moreover, exotic effects can be realized by the appearance of new bands inside the optical bandgap of a semiconductor, called Floquet-sidebands. However, experimental observation of these processes in solid-state semiconductors can be very challenging because they require robust states with strong absorption and high optical quality of the material. Additionally, strong fields can damage materials before photo-induced phase transitions occur. Writing in Nature Physics, Yuki Kobayashi and co-workers have now reported the manipulation of excitonic states — electron–hole pairs bound by Coulomb interaction — with energy shifts exceeding 100 meV and the observation of a Floquet-sideband inside the optical bandgap of an atomically thin semiconductor1.

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Fig. 1: Pump–probe measurement of excitons in WS2.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL), Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion-Crete, Greece

    Ioannis Paradisanos

  2. Institute of Condensed Matter Physics, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany

    Bernhard Urbaszek

Authors
  1. Ioannis Paradisanos
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  2. Bernhard Urbaszek
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Correspondence to Ioannis Paradisanos or Bernhard Urbaszek.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Paradisanos, I., Urbaszek, B. Excitons dance as light conducts. Nat. Phys. 19, 149–150 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01880-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01880-w

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