Deep subwavelength control of valley polarized cathodoluminescence in h-BN/WSe2/h-BN heterostructure.

Valley pseudospin in transition metal dichalcogenides monolayers intrinsically provides additional possibility to control valley carriers, raising a great impact on valleytronics in following years. The spin-valley locking directly contributes to optical selection rules which allow for valley-dependent addressability of excitons by helical optical pumping. As a binary photonic addressable route, manipulation of valley polarization states is indispensable while effective control methods at deep-subwavelength scale are still limited. Here, we report the excitation and control of valley polarization in h-BN/WSe₂/h-BN and Au nanoantenna hybrid structure by electron beam. Near-field circularly polarized dipole modes can be excited via precise stimulation and generate the valley polarized cathodoluminescence via near-field interaction. Effective manipulation of valley polarization degree can be realized by variation of excitation position. This report provides a near-field excitation methodology of valley polarization, which offers exciting opportunities for deep-subwavelength valleytronics investigation, optoelectronic circuits integration and future quantum information technologies. Here, the authors generate near-field circularly polarized dipole modes in a hBN/WSe₂/hBN–Au nanoantenna hybrid structure by electron beam excitation, and show nanoscale control of the valley polarization through spatial variation of the electron beam excitation position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]