Electronic state evolution of oxygen-doped monolayer WSe₂ assisted by femtosecond laser irradiation

Electronic states are significantly correlated with chemical compositions, and the information related to these factors is especially crucial for the manipulation of the properties of matter. However, this key information is usually verified by after-validation methods, which could not be obtained during material processing, for example, in the field of femtosecond laser direct writing inside materials. Here, critical evolution stages of electronic states for monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe₂) around the modification threshold (at a Mott density of ∼10¹³ cm⁻²) are observed by broadband femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, which is associated with the intense femtosecond-laser-assisted oxygen-doping mechanism. First-principles calculations and control experiments on graphene-covered monolayer WSe₂ further confirm this modification mechanism. Our findings reveal a photochemical reaction for monolayer WSe₂ under the Mott density condition and provide an electronic state criterion to in situ monitor the degrees of modification in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides during the femtosecond laser modification.