Fluorescence Concentric Triangles: A Case of Chemical Heterogeneity in WS₂ Atomic Monolayer

Abstract

We report a novel optical property in WS2 monolayer. The monolayer naturally exhibits beautiful in-plane periodical and lateral homojunctions by way of alternate dark and bright band in the fluorescence images of these monolayers. The interface between different fluorescence species within the sample is distinct and sharp. This gives rise to intriguing concentric triangular fluorescence patterns in the monolayer. The novel optical property of this special WS2 monolayer is facilitated by chemical heterogeneity. The photoluminescence of the bright band is dominated by emissions from trion and biexciton while the emission from defect-bound exciton dominates the photoluminescence at the dark band. The discovery of such concentric fluorescence patterns represents a potentially new form of optoelectronic or photonic functionality.