Layer-controlled band gap and anisotropic excitons in few-layer black phosphorus

We report the quasiparticle band gap, excitons, and highly anisotropic optical responses of few-layer black phosphorous (phosphorene). It is shown that these new materials exhibit unique many-electron effects; the electronic structures are dispersive essentially along one dimension, leading to particularly enhanced self-energy corrections and excitonic effects. Additionally, within a wide energy range, including infrared light and part of visible light, few-layer black phosphorous absorbs light polarized along the structure's armchair direction and is transparent to light polarized along the zigzag direction, making them viable linear polarizers for applications. Finally, the number of phosphorene layers included in the stack controls the material's band gap, optical absorption spectrum, and anisotropic polarization energy-window across a wide range.