Localized Interlayer Excitons in MoSe2-WSe2 Heterostructures without a Moir\'e Potential

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that localized interlayer excitons in MoSe2-WSe2 heterostructures can exist without a moiré potential, suggesting extrinsic factors like defects cause exciton localization.

Contribution

It reveals that narrow photoluminescence lines of interlayer excitons are independent of moiré potential, highlighting extrinsic effects as the localization mechanism.

Findings

Narrow IX PL lines occur even with suppressed moiré potential.

Localization likely due to extrinsic effects such as nanobubbles or defects.

IX g-factors have opposite signs in different regions.

Abstract

Trapped interlayer excitons (IXs) in MoSe2-WSe2 heterobilayers have generated interest for use as single quantum emitter arrays and as an opportunity to study moir\'e physics in transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) heterostructures. IXs are spatially indirectly excitons comprised of an electron in the MoSe2 layer bound to a hole in the WSe2 layer. Previous reports of spectrally narrow (<1 meV) photoluminescence (PL) emission lines at low temperature have been attributed to IXs localized by the moir\'e potential between the TMD layers. Here, we show that spectrally narrow IX PL lines are present even when the moir\'e potential is suppressed by inserting a bilayer hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) spacer between the TMD layers. We directly compare the doping, electric field, magnetic field, and temperature dependence of IXs in a directly contacted MoSe2-WSe2 region to those in a region separated by bilayer hBN. Our results show that the localization potential resulting in the narrow PL lines is independent of the moir\'e potential, and instead likely due to extrinsic effects such as nanobubbles or defects. We show that while the doping, electric field, and temperature dependence of the narrow IX lines is similar for both regions, their excitonic g-factors have opposite signs, indicating that the IXs in the directly contacted region are trapped by both moir\'e and extrinsic localization potentials.