Data underlying the publication: Real-Space Imaging of Moiré-Confined Excitons in Twisted Bilayer MoS2

Twisting two atomically thin van der Waals layers produces a nanoscale moiré landscape that reshape their electronic and optical properties. In twisted transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), optical excitation generates excitons, bound electron-hole pairs, that occur in distinct species and whose energies, oscillator strengths, and spatial profiles are modulated by the moiré potential. However, direct, species-selective imaging of excitonic photoresponses within a single moiré unit cell under device-integrated conditions has been hindered by optical diffraction and limited spectral resolution. Here, we introduce high-resolution photocurrent atomic force microscopy (PC-AFM), a room-temperature method that maps optical responses with nanometre spatial and high spectral resolution in standard van der Waals devices. Applied to a 2◦ twisted MoS2 bilayer, we resolve that direct and indirect excitons preferentially localize at distinct stacking registries within the moiré unit cell, and that the contrast is governed by local generation rather than carrier transport. A Wannier-based moiré-exciton model reproduces the observed energies, Rydberg series, and site localization of each excitonic species. This device-compatible approach provides species-resolved imaging of excitonic lattices, and brings a new level of control to light-matter interactions at the nanoscale, enabling deterministic design of optoelectronic, valleytronic and quantum architectures in twisted bilayers.