Spatiotemporal dynamics of excitons in monolayer and bulk WS2.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of excitons in monolayer and bulk WS2 at room temperature is studied by transient absorption microscopy in the reflection geometry. Excitons are formed from photocarriers injected by a tightly focused 390 nm pump pulse, and monitored by detecting different reflection of a time-delayed and spatially scanned 620 nm probe pulse. We obtain exciton lifetimes of 22 ± 1 and 110 ± 10 ps in monolayer and bulk WS2, respectively. Both lifetimes are independent of the exciton density, showing the absence of multi-exciton recombination processes. Exciton diffusion coefficients of 60 ± 20 and 3.5 ± 0.5 cm(2) s(-1) are obtained in monolayer and bulk samples, respectively. These results provide a foundation for understanding excitons in this new material and its optoelectronic applications.