Shaping exciton polarization dynamics in 2D semiconductors by tailored ultrafast pulses

Abstract The ultrafast formation of strongly bound excitons in two-dimensional semiconductors provides a rich platform for studying fundamental physics as well as developing novel optoelectronic technologies. While extensive research has explored the excitonic coherence, many-body interactions, and nonlinear optical properties, the potential to study these phenomena by directly controlling their coherent polarization dynamics has not been fully realized. In this work, we use a sub-10 fs pulse shaper to study how temporal control of coherent exciton polarization affects the generation of four-wave mixing in monolayer $${\rm{WS}}{{\rm{e}}}_{2}$$ WS e 2 under ambient conditions. By tailoring multiphoton pathway interference, we tune the nonlinear response from destructive to constructive interference, resulting in a 2.6-fold enhancement over the four-wave mixing generated by a transform-limited pulse. This demonstrates a general method for nonlinear enhancement by shaping the pulse to counteract the temporal dispersion experienced during resonant light–matter interactions. Our method allows us to excite both 1s and 2s states, showcasing a selective control over the resonant state that produces nonlinearity. By comparing our results with theory, we find that exciton-exciton interactions dominate the nonlinear response, rather than Pauli blocking. This capability to manipulate exciton polarization dynamics in atomically thin crystals lays the groundwork for exploring a wide range of resonant phenomena in condensed matter systems and opens up new possibilities for precise optical control in advanced optoelectronic devices.