Phys.org  June 20, 2022 A team of researchers in the US (UT Austin, Auburn University) performed an extensive study of transient optical absorption of both W- and Mo-based single-crystalline monolayer TMDs grown by a recently developed laser-assisted evaporation method. All spectral features of the monolayers as grown on fused silica substrates exhibited appreciable redshifts relating to the existence of strain due to growth conditions. These systems exhibited a dramatic slowing down of exciton dynamics with an increase in carrier densities, which strongly contrasted with the monolayers in their freestanding form as well as in comparison with more traditionally grown TMDs. […]