We report systematic optical studies of WS2 and WSe2 monolayers and multilayers. The efficiency of second harmonic generation shows a dramatic even-odd oscillation with the number of layers, consistent with the presence (absence) of inversion symmetry in even-layer (odd-layer). Photoluminescence (PL) measurements show the crossover from an indirect band gap semiconductor at multilayers to a direct-gap one at monolayers. A hot luminescence peak (B) is observed at ~0.4 eV above the prominent band edge peak (A) in all samples. The magnitude of A-B splitting is independent of the number of layers and coincides with the spin-valley coupling strength in monolayers. Ab initio calculations show that this thickness independent splitting pattern is a direct consequence of the giant spin-valley coupling which fully suppresses interlayer hopping at valence band edge near K points because of the sign change of the spin-valley coupling from layer to layer in the 2H stacking order.

The stress states in unintentionally doped GaN epilayers grown on Si͑111͒, 6H-SiC͑0001͒, and c-plane sapphire, and their effects on optical properties of GaN films were investigated by means of room-temperature confocal micro-Raman scattering and photoluminescence techniques. Relatively large tensile stress exists in GaN epilayers grown on Si and 6H-SiC while a small compressive stress appears in the film grown on sapphire. The latter indicates effective strain relaxation in the GaN buffer layer inserted in the GaN/sapphire sample, while the 50-nm-thick AlN buffer adopted in the GaN/Si sample remains highly strained. The analysis shows that the thermal mismatch between the epilayers and the substrates plays a major role in determining the residual strain in the films. Finally, a linear coefficient of 21.1Ϯ3.2 meV/GPa characterizing the relationship between the luminescent bandgap and the biaxial stress of the GaN films is obtained.

Very recently, all-inorganic perovskite CsPbX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) nanostructures such as nanoparticles, nanoplates, and nanorods have been extensively explored. These CsPbX3 nanostructures exhibit excellent optical properties; however, the photophysics involved is not yet clear. Herein, the emission properties and luminescence mechanism of CsPbBr3 nanosheets (NSs) were investigated using steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopic techniques. Moreover, two kinds of excitonic emissions (Peak 1 and Peak 2) are observed at low temperatures (<80 K) under the conditions of low excitation level. They are revealed to stem from the radiative recombination of trapped and free excitons by examining their spectral features and emission intensity dependences on excitation power. Thermally induced exchange between the two kinds of excitons is found and modeled quantitatively; this has led to the determination of an activation energy of 13 meV. Thermal redistribution of trapped excitons and thermal expansion-induced blueshift of the bandgap are jointly responsible for the abnormal temperature dependence of the position of Peak 1, whereas the latter is predominant for the monotonic blueshift of the position of Peak 2 with an increase in temperature. These results and findings shed some light on the complicated luminescence mechanism of CsPbBr3 NSs.