Spin-valley Rashba monolayer laser

Direct-bandgap transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers are appealing candidates to construct atomic-scale spin-optical light sources owing to their valley-contrasting optical selection rules. Here we report on a spin-optical monolayer laser by incorporating a WS₂ monolayer into a heterostructure microcavity supporting high-Q photonic spin-valley resonances. Inspired by the creation of valley pseudo-spins in monolayers, the spin-valley modes are generated from a photonic Rashba-type spin splitting of a bound state in the continuum, which gives rise to opposite spin-polarized ±K valleys due to emergent photonic spin–orbit interaction under inversion symmetry breaking. The Rashba monolayer laser shows intrinsic spin polarizations, high spatial and temporal coherence, and inherent symmetry-enabled robustness features, enabling valley coherence in the WS₂ monolayer upon arbitrary pump polarizations at room temperature. Our monolayer-integrated spin-valley microcavities open avenues for further classical and non-classical coherent spin-optical light sources exploring both electron and photon spins.