Dynamic control of X-ray core-exciton resonances by Coulomb screening in photoexcited semiconductors

Dynamic control of X-ray core-exciton resonances by Coulomb screening in photoexcited semiconductors | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Dynamic control of X-ray core-exciton resonances by Coulomb screening in photoexcited semiconductors Renske M. van der Veen, Thomas Rossi, Lu Qiao, Conner Dykstra, and 14 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6297596/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 20 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Communications Materials → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Excitonics is an emerging field focused on exploiting and manipulating excitons generated through light-matter interactions. Advancing the field into X-ray excitonics requires precise energy and time control over core-exciton resonances. Such control enables the use of core excitons to enhance non-linear optical effects, including X-ray second harmonic generation, and has broad applications in material characterization and quantum information processing. To achieve these objectives, it is essential to comprehend the role of many-body effects governing core-exciton dynamics. In this work, we address this challenge by combining experiments with a novel \emph{ab initio} approach specifically developed to interpret pump-probe excitations. Applied to the prototypical wide-bandgap semiconductor ZnO, first-principles calculations reproduce experimental results and unveil how the density and distribution of photoexcited carriers can tune the dynamical Coulomb screening, thereby controlling core-exciton binding energies, while Pauli blocking remains negligible. These insights lead us to propose a method for dynamically controlling core-exciton resonances at absorption edges, achieving either a uniform spectral blue shift, driven by thermalized carrier distributions on picosecond timescales, or individual spectral blue shifts, driven by time-dependent carrier distributions on femtosecond timescales. Physical sciences/Materials science/Condensed-matter physics/Electronic properties and materials Physical sciences/Materials science/Theory and computation/Computational methods Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files NCsupportinginformation.pdf Dynamic control of X-ray core-exciton resonances by Coulomb screening in photoexcited semiconductors Supporting Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 20 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Communications Materials → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6297596","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":437073691,"identity":"c6092243-fe98-403c-a79f-38b8ee5f8d3d","order_by":0,"name":"Renske M. van der 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