journal article·2025-03-04Open access

Atomistic theory of twist-angle dependent intralayer and interlayer exciton properties in twisted bilayer materials

Indrajit Maity, Arash A. Mostofi, Johannes Lischner

Abstract

Abstract Twisted bilayers of two-dimensional materials have emerged as a highly tunable platform to study and engineer properties of excitons. However, the atomistic description of these properties has remained a significant challenge as a consequence of the large unit cells of the emergent moiré superlattices. To address this problem, we introduce an efficient atomistic quantum-mechanical approach to solve the Bethe–Salpeter equation that exploits the localization of atomic Wannier functions. We then use this approach to study intra- and interlayer excitons in twisted WS2/WSe2 at a range of twist angles. In agreement with experiment, we find that the optical spectrum exhibits three low-energy peaks for twist angles smaller than 2∘. The energy splitting between the peaks is described accurately. We also find two low-energy interlayer excitons with weak oscillator strengths. Our approach opens up new opportunities for the atomistic design of light-matter interactions in ultrathin materials.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: 2D Materials and Applications · Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures · Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices

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