How Strain Changes Light
Light from thin semiconductor layers can be polarized: its waves oscillate in a single plane. Previously, it was thought that the direction of oscillation was set by how the sample was illuminated.
A Spectral Mosaic in Two Layers
The glow of an ultrathin sandwich made of two semiconductor layers, molybdenum selenide and tungsten selenide, resembles a tangled musical score: many narrow colored lines that merge into a general background. Figuring out which line comes from where is nearly impossible.
The authors did not try to disentangle the lines one by one.