Spatial Separation of Carrier Spin by the Valley Hall Effect in Monolayer WSe₂ Transistors

We investigate the valley Hall effect (VHE) in monolayer WSe₂ field-effect transistors using optical Kerr rotation measurements at 20 K. While studies of the VHE have so far focused on n -doped MoS₂, we observe the VHE in WSe₂ in both the n - and p -doping regimes. Hole doping enables access to the large spin-splitting of the valence band of this material. The Kerr rotation measurements probe the spatial distribution of the valley carrier imbalance induced by the VHE. Under current flow, we observe distinct spin-valley polarization along the edges of the transistor channel. From analysis of the magnitude of the Kerr rotation, we infer a spin-valley density of 44 spins/μm, integrated over the edge region in the p -doped regime. Assuming a spin diffusion length less than 0.1 μm, this corresponds to a spin-valley polarization of the holes exceeding 1%.