Probing Electronic States in Monolayer Semiconductors through Static and Transient Third-Harmonic Spectroscopies.

Wang, Yadong; Iyikanat, Fadil; Rostami, Habib; Bai, Xueyin; Hu, Xuerong; Das, Susobhan; Dai, Yunyun; Du, Luojun et al. · Adv Mater · 2022

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Electronic states and their dynamics are of critical importance for electronic and optoelectronic applications. Here, various relevant electronic states in monolayer MoS<sub>2</sub> , such as multiple excitonic Rydberg states and free-particle energy bands are probed with a high relative contrast of up to ≥200 via broadband (from ≈1.79 to 3.10 eV) static third-harmonic spectroscopy (THS), which is further supported by theoretical calculations. Moreover, transient THS is introduced to demonstrate that third-harmonic generation can be all-optically modulated with a modulation depth exceeding ≈94% at ≈2.18 eV, providing direct evidence of dominant carrier relaxation processes associated with carrier-exciton and carrier-phonon interactions. The results indicate that static and transient THS are not only promising techniques for the characterization of monolayer semiconductors and their heterostructures, but also a potential platform for disruptive photonic and optoelectronic applications, including all-optical modulation and imaging.