Optical engineering and detection of magnetism in moiré semiconductors

Abstract

We present a general framework for optically inducing, controlling, and probing spin states in moiré systems. In particular, we demonstrate that applying Raman optical drives to moiré transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers can realize a class of spin models, with magnetic interactions tunable via the optical parameters. The resulting interaction anisotropy, controlled by the polarizations of the drives, enables access to magnetic states that are inaccessible in undriven moiré bilayers. Furthermore, we establish direct connections between the resulting spin correlations and experimentally observable optical signals. Our work paves the way for future studies on the optical control and detection on strongly correlated quantum systems.