Tip-induced excitonic luminescence nanoscopy of an atomically resolved van der Waals heterostructure

The electronic and optical properties of van der Waals heterostructures are strongly influenced by the structuration and homogeneity of their nano- and atomic-scale environments. Unravelling this intimate structure-property relationship is a key challenge that requires methods capable of addressing the light-matter interactions in van der Waals materials with ultimate spatial resolution. Here we use a low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscope to probe-with atomic-scale resolution-the excitonic luminescence of a van der Waals heterostructure, made of a transition metal dichalcogenide monolayer stacked onto a few-layer graphene flake supported by a Au(111) substrate. Sharp emission lines arising from neutral, charged and localized excitons are reported. Their intensities and emission energies vary as a function of the nanoscale topography of the van der Waals heterostructure, explaining the variability of the emission properties observed with diffraction-limited approaches. Our work paves the way towards understanding and controlling optoelectronic phenomena in moiré superlattices with atomic-scale resolution.