arXiv subjects

Mehdi Arfaoui

Publications and source records attributed to Mehdi Arfaoui.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Fast Interlayer Energy Transfer from the Lower Bandgap MoS2 to the Higher Bandgap WS2

Energy transfer (ET) is a dipole-dipole interaction, mediated by the virtual photon. Traditionally, ET happens from the higher (donor) to lower bandgap (acceptor) material. However, in some rare instances, ET can happen from the lower-to-higher bandgap material, depending on the strong overlap between the acceptor photoluminescence (PL) and the donor absorption spectra. In this work, we report an ET process from the lower bandgap MoS2 to the higher bandgap WS2, due to a near 'resonant' overlap between the MoS2 B and WS2 A excitonic levels. Changing the MoS2 bandgap from direct-to-indirect by increasing the layer number results in a reduced ET rate, evidenced by the quenching of the WS2 PL emission. Our work shows at 300 K, the ET timescale of ~33 fs is faster than the reported thermalization of the MoS2 excitonic intervalley scattering (K to K') time and competing with the ultrafast charge transfer timescale. Thus, allowing us to open a new direction in understanding the competing inter/intralayer processes.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Twisted MoSe2 Homobilayer Behaving as a Heterobilayer

Heterostructures (HSs) formed by the transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) materials have shown great promise in next-generation optoelectronic and photonic applications. An artificially twisted HS, allows us to manipulate the optical, and electronic properties. With this work, we introduce the understanding of the complex energy transfer (ET) process governed by the dipolar interaction in a twisted molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2) homobilayer without any charge-blocking interlayer. We fabricated an unconventional homobilayer (i.e., HS) with a large twist angle by combining the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and mechanical exfoliation (Exf.) techniques to fully exploit the lattice parameters mismatch and indirect/direct (CVD/Exf.) bandgap nature. This effectively weaken the charge transfer (CT) process and allows the ET process to take over the carrier recombination channels. We utilize a series of optical and electron spectroscopy techniques complementing by the density functional theory calculations, to describe a massive photoluminescence enhancement from the HS area due to an efficient ET process. Our results show that the electronically decoupled MoSe2 homobilayer is coupled by the ET process, mimicking a 'true' heterobilayer nature.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

The optical absorption in indirect semiconductor to semimetal PtSe2 arises from direct transitions

$\rm{PtSe_2}$ is a van der Waals material transitioning from an indirect bandgap semiconductor to a semimetal with increasing thickness. Its absorption threshold has been conjectured to originate from interband indirect transitions. By quantitative comparison between broadband ($0.8 - 3.0\,\rm{eV}$) optical absorption of high-quality exfoliated crystals and DFT ab-initio simulations, we prove instead that the optical absorption arises only from direct transitions. This understanding allows us to shed light on the semiconductor to semimetal transition and to explore the effect of stacking and excitons on the optical absorption.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Optical properties of orthorhombic germanium sulfide: Unveiling the Anisotropic Nature of Wannier Exciton

To fully explore exciton-based applications and improve their performance, it is essential to understand the exciton behavior in anisotropic materials. Here, we investigate the optical properties of anisotropic excitons in GeS encapsulated by h-BN, using different approaches that combine polarization- and temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurements, \textit{ab initio} calculations, and effective mass approximation (EMA). Using the Bethe-Salpeter Equation (BSE) method, we found that the optical absorption spectra in GeS are significantly affected by the Coulomb interaction included in the BSE method, which shows the importance of excitonic effects besides it exhibits a significant dependence on the direction of polarization, revealing the anisotropic nature of bulk GeS. Combining \textit{ab initio} calculations and EMA methods, we investigate the quasi-hydrogenic exciton states and oscillator strength (OS) of GeS along the zigzag and armchair axes. We found that the anisotropy induces lifting of the degeneracy and mixing of the excitonic states in GeS, which results in highly nonhydrogenic features. Very good agreement with the experiment is observed.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Atomic Layer-controlled Nonlinear Terahertz Valleytronics in Dirac Semi-metal and Semiconductor PtSe2

Platinum diselenide (PtSe2) is a promising two-dimensional (2D) material for the terahertz (THz) range as, unlike other transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), its bandgap can be uniquely tuned from a semiconductor in the near-infrared to a semimetal with the number of atomic layers. This gives the material unique THz photonic properties that can be layer-engineered. Here, we demonstrate that a controlled THz nonlinearity - tuned from monolayer to bulk PtSe2 - can be realised in wafer size polycrystalline PtSe2 through the generation of ultrafast photocurrents and the engineering of the bandstructure valleys. This is combined with the PtSe2 layer interaction with the substrate for a broken material centro-symmetry permitting a second order nonlinearity. Further, we show layer-dependent circular dichroism, where the sign of the ultrafast currents and hence the phase of the emitted THz pulse can be controlled through the excitation of different bandstructure valleys. In particular, we show that a semimetal has a strong dichroism that is absent in the monolayer and few layer semiconducting limit. The microscopic origins of this TMD bandstructure engineering is highlighted through detailed DFT simulations and show that circular dichroism can be controlled when PtSe2 becomes a semimetal and when the K-valleys can be excited. As well as showing that PtSe2 is a promising material for THz generation through layer controlled optical nonlinearities, this work opens up new class of circular dichroism materials beyond the monolayer limit that has been the case of traditional TMDs, and impacting a range of domains from THz valleytronics, THz spintronics to harmonic generation.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Hyperfine Interaction in a MoS$_2$ Quantum Dot: Decoherence of a Spin-Valley Qubit

A successful and promising device for the physical implementation of electron spin-valley based qubits is the Transition Metal Dichalcogenide monolayer (TMD-ML) semiconductor quantum dot. The electron spin in TMD-ML semiconductor quantum dots can be isolated and controlled with high accuracy, but it still suffers from decoherence due to the unavoidable coupling with the surrounding environment, such as nuclear spin environments. A common tool to investigate systems like the one considered in this work is the density matrix formalism by presenting an exact master equation for a central spin (spin-qubit) system in a time-dependent and coupled to a nuclear spin bath in terms of hyperfine interaction. The master equation provides a unified description of the dynamics of the central spin. Analyzing this in more detail, we calculate fidelity loss due to the Overhauser field from hyperfine interaction in a wide range number of nuclear spins $\mathcal{N}$.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗