Photoluminescence analysis, from single spectra to full maps
Atlas covers the full luminescence workflow: per-pixel emission fitting, energy, linewidth, and intensity maps, exciton and trion decomposition, defect-band and thermal-floor analysis, edge-recovery profiles, and a separate cathodoluminescence workflow. It runs across TMD monolayers and III-V emitters, with reference energies stated.
What Atlas does with Photoluminescence data
Every analysis runs as a documented Block with recorded parameters, so the same result can be reproduced, reviewed, and compared across samples.
Every pixel, at full size
A 105 MB hyperspectral flake becomes 111,556 fitted spectra and maps of energy, linewidth, and intensity you can point at, not a single averaged curve.
One workflow across material families
The same analysis reads TMDs (MoS₂, WS₂, WSe₂, MoSe₂) and III-V emitters such as GaAs, InP, GaN, and GaP, with cataloged reference energies and deep-level windows for each.
Exciton and trion, separated
For TMDs, Atlas decomposes the A-exciton and trion, reports trion weight and splitting, and maps where a flake is heavily doped.
Defect bands with context
Below-gap emission is integrated against the primary line, linewidths are compared with the room-temperature thermal floor, and a defect score keeps its model family attached.
Edges and damage, measured
Edge profiles give recovery lengths across cut or milled boundaries, and can show that emission energy recovers over a different distance than intensity does.
Cathodoluminescence kept separate
CL maps get their own workflow. Atlas does not apply optical-PL assumptions, such as an excitation wavelength or exciton/trion models, to electron-beam-excited emission.
Atlas compared with legacy Photoluminescence software
Most labs already own capable Photoluminescence software. This is where Atlas adds to it, and where your existing tools are still the better choice.
| Capability | Matter42 AtlasCloud or private deployment | Instrument vendor softwaree.g. LabSpec, LightField, WITec Suite | Desktop analysis toolse.g. Origin, Python scripts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fitting every pixel of large maps | Supported. Full-resolution maps of 100,000+ pixels. | Supported. Map fitting in most suites. | Partly supported. Scripted. |
| Shift against a literature reference energy | Supported. Reported in meV against cataloged references for each material. | Partly supported. Peak positions; reference comparison by hand. | Partly supported. By hand. |
| Exciton, trion, and defect-band decomposition | Supported. Material-aware models for TMDs and III-Vs. | Partly supported. Generic multi-peak fitting. | Partly supported. Custom fit models. |
| Linewidth compared with the thermal floor | Supported. Reported with every fit. | Partly supported. Left to the analyst. | Partly supported. Left to the analyst. |
| Edge and damage recovery profiles | Supported. Recovery lengths for energy and intensity at each edge. | Partly supported. Line extraction; analysis by hand. | Partly supported. Scripted. |
| Correlating PL with Raman of the same field | Supported. Registers the two exports and correlates pixel populations. | Partly supported. Usually within one instrument session. | Not supported. Manual alignment. |
| Results tied to samples and process history | Supported. Fits, maps, and defect scores are stored as structured outputs linked to the file, parameters, sample, and process run. | Partly supported. Project files on the workstation; sample context kept separately. | Partly supported. Saved project files; sample context kept by hand. |
| Instrument control and acquisition | Not supported. Not an acquisition tool. Keep your instrument software for this. | Supported. Core purpose. | Not supported. Not offered. |
- Supported
- Partly supported
- Not supported
Reflects typical, publicly documented workflows in each category as of September 2026. Capabilities vary by product, version, and add-on module. Product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
Where Atlas stops
A result is only useful if you know its limits. These are the current boundaries, stated in the product the same way.
- Acquisition and spectrometer control stay in your vendor software.
- Per-pixel maps use fast extraction, so the headline summary fit is more precise than any single map value; Atlas labels which is which.
- The III-V defect score is a documented heuristic and is not calibrated against the TMD score, so the two are not compared across families.
- When the measured spectral window does not reach a deep-level band, Atlas reports that ratio as uninformative instead of as zero.
Files Atlas reads
- Horiba LabSpec maps (.txt)
- CSV and TSV spectral exports
- Two-column single spectra
- Multi-page TIFF stacks with a wavelength range in the filename
Worked examples
Material spotlight · 7 min read
What Atlas can do with GaAs heterostructures
A 111,556-pixel micro-PL map of GaAs/GaAsP quantum-well-tube nanowires: confined-state energy, per-wire linewidth and energy spread, emitting fraction across flakes, and a deep-level ratio Atlas reports as uninformative for the right reason.
Material spotlight · 12 min read
What Atlas can do with WS₂
A 130 × 130 µm co-registered Raman and PL map of a PFIB-patterned WS₂ flake: segmentation, two independent defect-density estimators, strain–doping decomposition, exciton/trion fitting, edge profiles, and cross-modal correlation — with every calibration caveat Atlas raised.
Material spotlight · 9 min read
What Atlas can do with GaN and InGaN
Cathodoluminescence maps of InGaN/GaN quantum wells across a five-sample point-defect series: how spatial intensity uniformity from one Block orders the samples the same way independent lifetime measurements do, and what dedicated GaN Blocks add.
Questions
- Does Atlas work for III-V wafers, nanowires, and quantum dots?
- Yes. The PL workflow reads GaAs, InP, GaN, GaP, and related alloys from a single material argument, with reference energies and deep-level windows for each, so a multi-material photonics line can run one workflow.
- Is cathodoluminescence supported?
- Yes, as its own technique. CL datasets stay labeled as CL and run through a dedicated workflow that reports emission energy, shift, linewidth, and below-gap emission without applying optical-PL assumptions.
- Can I analyze PL and Raman maps of the same flake together?
- Yes. Atlas registers the two exports, corrects the offset between instruments, and correlates the pixel populations, so you can check whether both techniques point at the same defective regions.
Bring your Photoluminescence data
Send us a file from your own instrument. We’ll run it through Atlas and walk you through every number and caveat it reports.