Interlayer Excitons and Radiative Lifetimes in MoSe2/SeWS Bilayers: Implications for Light-Emitting Diodes

Interlayer excitons, formed by electrical charge transfer between layers of 2D van der Waals heterostructures, are of the utmost importance for light-detection and light-harvesting applications. In particular, Janus-based heterostructures are promising platforms to observe robust interlayer exciton dynamics due to their intrinsic electric field. Here, we carry out ground- and excited-state first-principles calculations, based on the G0W0 approach and the solution of the Bethe–Salpeter equation, to investigate the energetic, electronic, and excitonic properties of MoSe2/WSSe van der Waals heterobilayers. Our results show that the heterojunction presents features of type-II band alignment and tightly bound, long-lived interlayer excitons. Indeed, the lowest dipole-allowed excitonic state possesses an interlayer character and a slight deviation of 12% in its binding energy compared to the lowest-energy intralayer exciton. Furthermore, the interlayer excitons have transition rates ∼55 times smaller than the intralayer ones, which translates into a longer radiative lifetime of dozens of nanoseconds at room temperature. This is up to 2 orders of magnitude greater than that of the lowest-energy intralayer exciton. The findings emphasize the critical role of Janus-based heterojunctions in influencing interlayer exciton radiative lifetimes, indicating that the system possesses considerable potential for application in optoelectronic devices such as a light-emitting diode (LED) or photodetector.