2025/12/24 by A. Borel, T. V. Ivanova, Borel, A. +17
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #2D Materials and Applications #FOS: Physical sciences #Graphene research and applications #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #Topological Materials and Phenomena
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2512.21125
openalex publication_date 2025/12/24 · openalex created_date 2025/12/26 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Moiré superlattices in transition-metal dichalcogenide semiconductor heterobilayers enable the quantum confinement of interlayer excitons with large out-of-plane permanent electric dipoles and spin-valley control. Here, we report a novel phonon-assisted excitation mechanism of individual moiré-trapped interlayer excitons in 2H-stacked MoSe2/WSe2 heterobilayers via chiral E′′ in-plane optical phonons at the Γ-point. This excitation pathway preserves valley-selective optical selection rules and enables deterministic generation of individual interlayer excitons with defined helicity, emitting within a spectrally narrow energy spread. Through photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy in both the ensemble and quantum emitter regimes, we identify a fixed phonon energy of ∼23 meV mediating the process. First-principles calculations corroborate the symmetry and energy of the relevant phonon mode and its coupling to interlayer excitons, providing microscopic support for the observed valley-selective phonon-assisted excitation mechanism. Our results highlight the utility of chiral phonons as a tool for controlled excitation of quantum emitters in TMD moiré systems, opening new opportunities for valleytronic and quantum photonic applications.