Control of trion-to-exciton conversion in monolayer WS₂ by orbital angular momentum of light

Controlling the density of exciton and trion quasiparticles in monolayer two-dimensional (2D) materials at room temperature by nondestructive techniques is highly desired for the development of future optoelectronic devices. Here, the effects of different orbital angular momentum (OAM) lights on monolayer tungsten disulfide at both room temperature and low temperatures are investigated, which reveal simultaneously enhanced exciton intensity and suppressed trion intensity in the photoluminescence spectra with increasing topological charge of the OAM light. In addition, the trion-to-exciton conversion efficiency is found to increase rapidly with the OAM light at low laser power and decrease with increasing power. Moreover, the trion binding energy and the concentration of unbound electrons are estimated, which shed light on how these quantities depend on OAM. A phenomenological model is proposed to account for the experimental data. These findings pave a way toward manipulating the exciton emission in 2D materials with OAM light for optoelectronic applications.