Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) provide a platform for realizing Wigner crystals and enable their detection via exciton spectroscopy. We develop a microscopic theoretical model for excitons interacting with the localized electrons of the Wigner crystal, including their vibrational motion. In addition to the previously observed exciton-Umklapp feature, the theory reproduces and explains the higher-band attractive-polaron resonances recently reported experimentally. Our model further uncovers that the appearance of two equal-strength and parallel attractive polarons, as commonly observed in WSe_{2} and WS_{2}, is a signature of strong correlations in the electronic system. Altogether, our results demonstrate that accounting for electronic interactions is essential to reproducing and interpreting the exciton-polaron spectra of TMDs.
Source: Physical Review Letters
DOI: 10.1103/bxn4-3tj3
Institutions: ETH Zurich, Heidelberg University
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G1170463422, Strongly correlated electrons in van der Waals heterostructures: an optical investigation, EXC 2181: STRUKTUREN: Emergenz in Natur, Mathematik und komplexen Daten, G7227535049, SFB 1225: Isolierte Quantensysteme und Universalität unter extremen Bedingungen (ISOQUANT), G993971353
OpenAlex ID: W7166545841