Theory of exciton polarons in 2D Wigner crystals

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    and WS   , is a signature of strong correlations in the electronic system. Altogether, our results demonstrate that accounting for electronic interactions is essential to reproduce and interpret the exciton-polaron spectra of TMDs.

H. S. Adlong, E. Dizer, R. Schmidt, A. Imamoglu, A. Christianen, „Theory of exciton polarons
in 2D Wigner crystals“, 18. Dez. 2025, arXiv:2512.16651 (2025).

https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.16651

Related to Project C01