Paper detail

Moiré Excitons Correlated with Superlattice Structure in Twisted WSe$_2$/WSe$_2$ Homobilayers

Moiré superlattices in twisted van der Waals materials constitute a promising platform for engineering electronic and optical properties. However, a major obstacle to fully understanding these systems and harnessing their potential is the limited ability to correlate the local moiré structure with optical properties. By using a recently developed scanning electron microscopy technique to image twisted WSe$_2$/WSe$_2$ bilayers, we directly correlate increasing moiré periodicity with the emergence of two distinct exciton species. These can be tuned individually through electrostatic gating, and feature different valley coherence properties. Our observations can be understood as resulting from an array of two intralayer exciton species residing in alternating locations in the superlattice, and illuminate the influence of the moiré potential on lateral exciton motion. They open up new avenues for controlling exciton arrays in twisted TMDs, with applications in quantum optoelectronics and explorations of novel many body systems.