Thermodynamic behavior of correlated electron-hole fluids in van der Waals heterostructures.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38092731.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-43799-7 and PMC identifier 10719388.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Coupled two-dimensional electron-hole bilayers provide a unique platform to study strongly correlated Bose-Fermi mixtures in condensed matter. Electrons and holes in spatially separated layers can bind to form interlayer excitons, composite Bosons expected to support high-temperature exciton condensates. The interlayer excitons can also interact strongly with excess charge carriers when electron and hole densities are unequal. Here, we use optical spectroscopy to quantitatively probe the local thermodynamic properties of strongly correlated electron-hole fluids in MoSe<sub>2</sub>/hBN/WSe<sub>2</sub> heterostructures. We observe a discontinuity in the electron and hole chemical potentials at matched electron and hole densities, a definitive signature of an excitonic insulator ground state. The excitonic insulator is stable up to a Mott density of ~0.8 × 10<sup>12</sup> cm<sup>-2</sup> and has a thermal ionization temperature of ~70 K. The density dependence of the electron, hole, and exciton chemical potentials reveals strong correlation effects across the phase diagram. Compared with a non-interacting uniform charge distribution, the correlation effects lead to significant attractive exciton-exciton and exciton-charge interactions in the electron-hole fluid. Our work highlights the unique quantum behavior that can emerge in strongly correlated electron-hole systems.