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Jiahui Nie

Publications and source records attributed to Jiahui Nie.

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Tunable Interlayer Charge-transfer States in MoSe$_2$/WS$_2$ Moir\'e Superlattices

Moir\'e superlattices formed by transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) heterobilayers provide a versatile platform for studying strongly correlated electronic, excitonic, and topological phenomena in solids. In particular, angle-aligned MoSe$_2$/WS$_2$ heterobilayers, which have a Type-I band alignment at zero vertical electric field, host rich correlated spin and charge physics. Here, combining large-scale first-principles calculations and optical reflection spectroscopy, we report a thorough study of the emergent moir\'e excitonic states and interlayer charge-transfer states in angle-aligned electron-doped MoSe$_2$/WS$_2$ moir\'e superlattices. The moir\'e excitonic states serve as sensitive optical probes to the localization profile of doped electrons. We observe a series of interlayer charge-transfer transitions from n/n$_0$ = 1 to 4 (where n$_0$ denotes the moir\'e density) when the vertical electric field switches the heterostructure band alignment from Type-I to Type-II. By tuning the vertical electric field, we can precisely control the interlayer electron localization, realizing a Fermi-Hubbard model with a tunable charge-transfer band on an effective honeycomb lattice. Furthermore, Monte Carlo simulation of the doping dependence of the electric-field susceptibility predicts that multiple correlated charge-ordered states appear at both integer and fractional fillings. Our results provide a holistic understanding of the emergent optical excitations and the correlated charge-transfer states in electron-doped MoSe$_2$/WS$_2$ moir\'e superlattices.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Observation of two-component exciton condensates in an excitonic insulator

Macroscopic quantum coherence emerges when bosons condense into a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). First observed as a single-component superfluid in helium, BECs later emerged in ultracold atomic gases at nanokelvin temperatures as weakly interacting quantum fluids, which can also host multicomponent spinor condensates with rich internal degrees of freedom. Excitons provide a promising solid-state platform for BECs that can combine strong interactions, electrical tunability, high transition temperatures, and multicomponent order. Yet, conclusive evidence for condensation has remained elusive. Here, we report evidence of two-component exciton BECs in MoSe2/hBN/WSe2 electron-hole bilayers by directly probing the spin susceptibility of constituent electrons and holes. This heterostructure hosts equilibrium exciton fluids with four spin-valley flavors. Using magneto-optical spectroscopy in a dilution refrigerator, we reveal three exciton condensate phases with distinct flavor polarizations. At zero magnetic field, the many-body ground state is a coherent superposition of two simultaneously condensed intravalley exciton flavors. Under a magnetic field, the intravalley exciton condensate first switches to a two-component intervalley exciton condensate via a first-order quantum phase transition at a weak critical field, and then turns into a fully-polarized single-component condensate at high fields. The two-component condensates persist up to ~1.8 K. Our results establish van der Waals electron-hole bilayers as a versatile platform for exploring strongly interacting, multicomponent exciton BECs.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Observation of an exciton crystal in a moir\'e excitonic insulator

Strong Coulomb interactions can drive electrons to crystallize into a Wigner lattice. Achieving the bosonic analogue - a crystal of excitons - has remained elusive due to their short lifetimes and weaker interactions. Here, we report the observation of a thermodynamically stable exciton crystal in an excitonic insulator coupled to a moir\'e potential. Using an electron-hole bilayer composed of a monolayer MoSe2 and a WS2/WSe2 moir\'e superlattice, we construct a tunable extended Bose-Hubbard model with electrical control over exciton and charge doping in thermal equilibrium. Optical spectroscopy reveals spontaneous crystallization of long-lived excitons at one exciton filling per three moir\'e sites, evidenced by strong Umklapp scattering peaks in the optical spectrum. Exciton transport measurements further show a pronounced exciton resistance peak at the same filling, consistent with suppressed exciton hopping in a crystalline phase. When doped away from net charge neutrality, this moir\'e electron-hole bilayer can host new correlated insulating phases where dipolar excitonic insulators form on top of the background of a hole Mott insulator or generalized Wigner crystals in the moir\'e superlattice. These findings establish moir\'e excitonic insulators as a versatile platform for realizing correlated crystalline phases of bosons and fermions.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Imaging Tunable Luttinger Liquid Systems in van der Waals Heterostructures

One-dimensional (1D) interacting electrons are often described as a Luttinger liquid1-4 having properties that are intrinsically different from Fermi liquids in higher dimensions5,6. 1D electrons in materials systems exhibit exotic quantum phenomena that can be tuned by both intra- and inter-1D-chain electronic interactions, but their experimental characterization can be challenging. Here we demonstrate that layer-stacking domain walls (DWs) in van der Waals heterostructures form a broadly tunable Luttinger liquid system including both isolated and coupled arrays. We have imaged the evolution of DW Luttinger liquids under different interaction regimes tuned by electron density using a novel scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) technique. Single DWs at low carrier density are highly susceptible to Wigner crystallization consistent with a spin-incoherent Luttinger liquid, while at intermediate densities dimerized Wigner crystals form due to an enhanced magneto-elastic coupling. Periodic arrays of DWs exhibit an interplay between intra- and inter-chain interactions that gives rise to new quantum phases. At low electron densities inter-chain interactions are dominant and induce a 2D electron crystal composed of phased-locked 1D Wigner crystal in a staggered configuration. Increased electron density causes intra-chain fluctuation potentials to dominate, leading to an electronic smectic liquid crystal phase where electrons are ordered with algebraical correlation decay along the chain direction but disordered between chains. Our work shows that layer-stacking DWs in 2D heterostructures offers new opportunities to explore Luttinger liquid physics.

cond-mat.str-el

Quantum Melting of a Disordered Wigner Solid

The behavior of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in extreme coupling limits are reasonably well-understood, but our understanding of intermediate region remains limited. Strongly interacting electrons crystalize into a solid phase known as the Wigner crystal at very low densities, and these evolve to a Fermi liquid at high densities. At intermediate densities, however, where the Wigner crystal melts into a strongly correlated electron fluid that is poorly understood partly due to a lack of microscopic probes for delicate quantum phases. Here we report the first imaging of a disordered Wigner solid and its quantum densification and quantum melting behavior in a bilayer MoSe2 using a non-invasive scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) technique. We observe a Wigner solid with nanocrystalline domains pinned by local disorder at low hole densities. With slightly increasing electrostatic gate voltages, the holes are added quantum mechanically during the densification of the disordered Wigner solid. As the hole density is increased above a threshold (p ~ 5.7 * 10e12 (cm-2)), the Wigner solid is observed to melt locally and create a mixed phase where solid and liquid regions coexist. With increasing density, the liquid regions gradually expand and form an apparent percolation network. Local solid domains appear to be pinned and stabilized by local disorder over a range of densities. Our observations are consistent with a microemulsion picture of Wigner solid quantum melting where solid and liquid domains emerge spontaneously and solid domains are pinned by local disorder.

cond-mat.str-el