Strain-Induced Exciton Hybridization in WS2 Monolayers Unveiled by Zeeman-Splitting Measurements

Mechanical deformations and ensuing strain are routinely exploited to tune the band gap energy and to enhance the functionalities of two-dimensional crystals. In this Letter, we show that strain leads also to a strong modification of the exciton magnetic moment in WS2 monolayers. Zeeman-splitting measurements under magnetic fields up to 28.5 T were performed on single, one-layer-thick WS2 microbubbles. The strain of the bubbles causes a hybridization of k-space direct and indirect excitons resulting in a sizable decrease in the modulus of they factor of the ground-state exciton. These findings indicate that strain may have major effects on the way the valley number of excitons can be used to process binary information in two-dimensional crystals.