Heterostructures (HSs) based on two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are highly intriguing materials because of the layers’ pronounced excitonic properties and their nontrivial contributions to the HS. These HSs exhibit unique properties that are not observed in either of the constituent components in isolation. Interlayer excitons (IEs), which are electron-hole pairs separated across the HSs, play a central role in determining these HS properties and are of interest both fundamentally and for device applications. In recent years, a major focus has been on understanding and designing HSs composed of two or more TMDC materials. Less attention has been paid to HSs composed of one TMDC layer and a layer of perovskite material. A central challenge in the understanding of HS properties is that basic measurements such as optical spectroscopic analysis can be misinterpreted due to the complexity of the charge transfer dynamics. Addressing these aspects, this review presents an overview of the most common and insightful optical spectroscopic techniques used to study TMDC/TMDC and TMDC/halide perovskite HSs. Emphasis is placed on the interpretation of these measurements in terms of charge transfer and the formation of IEs. Recent advances have started to uncover highly interesting phenomena, and with improved understanding these HSs offer great potential for device applications such as photodetectors and miniaturized optics.

Rhenium disulfide, a member of the transition metal dichalcogenide family of semiconducting materials, is unique among 2D van der Waals materials due to its anisotropy and, albeit weak, interlayer interactions, confining excitons within single atomic layers and leading to monolayer-like excitonic properties even in bulk crystals. While recent work has established the existence of two stacking modes in bulk, AA and AB_, the influence of the different interlayer coupling on the excitonic properties has been poorly explored. Here, we use polarization-dependent optical measurements to elucidate the nature of excitons in AA and AB-stacked rhenium disulfide to obtain insight into the effect of interlayer interactions. We combine polarization-dependent Raman with low-temperature photoluminescence and reflection spectroscopy to show that, while the similar polarization dependence of both stacking orders indicates similar excitonic alignments within the crystal planes, differences in peak width, position, and degree of anisotropy reveal a different degree of interlayer coupling. DFT calculations confirm the very similar band structure of the two stacking orders while revealing a change of the spin-split states at the top of the valence band to possibly underlie their different exciton binding energies. These results suggest that the excitonic properties are largely determined by in-plane interactions, however, strongly modified by the interlayer coupling. These modifications are stronger than those in other 2D semiconductors, making ReS₂ an excellent platform for investigating stacking as a tuning parameter for 2D materials. Furthermore, the optical anisotropy makes this material an interesting candidate for polarization-sensitive applications such as photodetectors and polarimetry.

Assembled perovskite nanocrystals (NCs), known as supercrystals (SCs), can have many exotic optical and electronic properties different from the individual NCs due to energy transfer and electronic coupling in the dense superstructures. We investigate the optical properties and ultrafast carrier dynamics of highly ordered SCs and the dispersed NCs by absorption, photoluminescence (PL), and femtosecond transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy to determine the influence of the assembly on the excitonic properties. Next to a red shift of absorption and PL peak with respect to the individual NCs, we identify signatures of the collective band-like states in the SCs. A smaller Stokes shift, decreased biexciton binding energy, and increased carrier cooling rates support the formation of delocalized states as a result of the coupling between the individual NC states. These results open perspectives for assembled perovskite NCs for application in optoelectronic devices, with design opportunities exceeding the level of NCs and bulk materials.

Photon recycling, the iterative process of re-Absorption and re-emission of photons in an absorbing medium, can play an important role in the power-conversion efficiency of photovoltaic cells. To date, several studies have proposed that this process may occur in bulk or thin films of inorganic lead-halide perovskites, but conclusive proof of the occurrence and magnitude of this effect is missing. Here, we provide clear evidence and quantitative estimation of photon recycling in CsPbBr3 nanocrystal suspensions by combining measurements of steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) and PL quantum yield with simulations of photon diffusion through the suspension. The steady-state PL shows clear spectral modifications including red shifts and quantum yield decrease, while the time-resolved measurements show prolonged PL decay and rise times. These effects grow as the nanocrystal concentration and distance traveled through the suspension increase. Monte Carlo simulations of photons diffusing through the medium and exhibiting absorption and re-emission account quantitatively for the observed trends and show that up to five re-emission cycles are involved. We thus identify 4 quantifiable measures, PL red shift, PL QY, PL decay time, and PL rise time that together all point toward repeated, energy-directed radiative transfer between nanocrystals. These results highlight the importance of photon recycling for both optical properties and photovoltaic applications of inorganic perovskite nanocrystals.

Few-layered transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are increasingly popular materials for optoelectronics and catalysis. Among the various types of TMDs available today, rhenium chalcogenides (ReX2) stand out due to their remarkable electronic structure, such as the occurrence of anisotropic excitons and potential direct band gap behavior throughout multilayered stacks. In this paper, we have analyzed the nature and dynamics of charge carriers in highly crystalline liquid-phase exfoliated ReS2, using a unique combination of optical pump-THz probe and broad-band transient absorption spectroscopy. Two distinct time regimes are identified, both of which are dominated by unbound charge carriers despite the high exciton binding energy. In the first time regime, the unbound charge carriers cause an increase and a broadening of the exciton absorption band. In the second time regime, a peculiar narrowing of the excitonic absorption profile is observed, which we assign to the presence of built-in fields and/or charged defects. Our results pave the way to analyze spectrally complex transient absorption measurements on layered TMD materials and indicate the potential for ReS2 to produce mobile free charge carriers, a feat relevant for photovoltaic applications.

We studied the dynamics of transfer of photoexcited electronic states in a bilayer of the two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide ReS2 and tetracene, with the aim to produce triplets in the latter. This material combination was used as the band gap of ReS2 (1.5 eV) is slightly larger than the triplet energy of tetracene (1.25 eV). Using time-resolved optical absorption spectroscopy, transfer of photoexcited states from ReS2 to triplet states in tetracene was found to occur within 5 ps with an efficiency near 38%. This result opens up new possibilities for heterostructure design of two-dimensional materials with suitable organics to produce long-lived triplets. Triplets are of interest as sensitizers in a wide variety of applications including optoelectronics, photovoltaics, photocatalysis, and photon upconversion.

We studied the nature of excitons in the transition metal dichalcogenide alloy Mo0.6W0.4S2 compared to pure MoS2 and WS2 grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD). For this, optical absorption/transmission spectroscopy and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) were used. The effects of temperature on A and B exciton peak energies and line widths in optical transmission spectra were compared between the alloy and pure MoS2 and WS2. On increasing the temperature from 25 to 293 K, the energy of the A and B exciton peaks decreases, while their line width increases due to exciton-phonon interactions. The exciton-phonon interactions in the alloy are closer to those for MoS2 than those for WS2. This suggests that exciton wave functions in the alloy have a larger amplitude on Mo atoms than that on W atoms. The experimental absorption spectra could be reproduced by TDDFT calculations. Interestingly, for the alloy, the Mo and W atoms had to be distributed over all layers. Conversely, we could not reproduce the experimental alloy spectrum by calculations on a structure with alternating layers, in which every other layer contains only Mo atoms and the layers in between also contain W atoms. For the latter atomic arrangement, the TDDFT calculations yielded an additional optical absorption peak that could be due to excitons with some charge transfer character. From these results, we conclude that ALD yields an alloy in which Mo and W atoms are distributed uniformly among all layers.

Carrier multiplication (CM) generates multiple electron-hole pairs in a semiconductor from a single absorbed photon with energy exceeding twice the band gap. Thus, CM provides a promising way to circumvent the Shockley-Queisser limit of solar cells. The ideal material for CM should have significant overlap with the solar spectrum and should be able to fully utilize the excess energy above the band gap for additional charge carrier generation. We report efficient CM in mixed Sn/Pb halide perovskites (band gap of 1.28 eV) with onset just above twice the band gap. The CM rate outcompetes the carrier cooling process leading to efficient CM with a quantum yield of 2 for photoexcitation at 2.8 times the band gap. Such efficient CM characteristics add to the many advantageous properties of mixed Sn/Pb metal halide perovskites for photovoltaic applications.