Photoinduced Metal-to-Insulator Transitions in 2D Moiré Devices

Physical Review Letters 2026

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Authors: Yiliu Li, Esteban Rojas‐Gatjens, Yinjie Guo, Birui Yang, Dihao Sun, Luke N. Holtzman, Juseung Oh, Katayun Barmak, Cory R. Dean, James Hone, Nathaniel M. Gabor, Eric A. Arsenault
+1 more Xiaoyang Zhu
DOI: 10.1103/mt2s-jkbl
Cited by: 2
References: 54

Abstract

Photoexcitation has been utilized to control quantum matter and to uncover metastable phases far from equilibrium. Among demonstrations to date, the most common is the photoinduced transition from correlated insulators to metallic states; however, the reverse process without initial orders has not been observed. Here, we show ultrafast metal-to-insulator transition in gate-doped WS_{2}/WSe_{2} and WSe_{2}/WSe_{2} moiré devices using photothermionic hole injection from graphite gates. The resulting correlated insulators are metastable, with lifetimes exceeding microseconds. These findings establish an effective mechanism for the ultrafast control of correlated electronic phases in van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures.

Fields of Study & Subjects

2D Materials and Applications Topological Materials and Phenomena Quantum and electron transport phenomena

Publication details

Journal / source
Physical Review Letters
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Volume
136
Issue
20
Pages
206502–206502
Publication date
6 April 2026
Language
EN