Moiré-Based Quantum Sensing of Correlated Electrons

Atomically thin materials, such as graphene and transitional metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), have recently come to the forefront of research in materials physics. This is largely due to the ease with which they can be combined into artificially engineered heterostructures that exhibit emergent electronic and optical properties. Enhanced Coulomb interactions in moiré heterostructures makes TMDs, such as MoSe₂/WSe₂, promising to explore correlated quantum phases of matter.<br/><br/>Moiré-trapped dipolar excitons are quantum emitters whose emission energy responds to electric-field, making them local charge sensors. By analyzing emission of multiple moiré-trapped dipolar excitons, we uncover numerous Wigner-like crystalline phases of electrons at fractional fillings of the moiré lattice. Our approach offers higher resolution at higher sensitivity compared to the existing optical reflectance based techniques which average over several moiré sites.