We present a photoluminescence study of freestanding and Si/SiO2 supported single- and few-layer MoS2. The single-layer exciton peak (A) is only observed in freestanding MoS2. The photoluminescence of supported single-layer MoS2 is instead originating from the A- (trion) peak as the MoS2 is n-type doped from the substrate. In bilayer MoS2, the van der Waals interaction with the substrate is decreasing the indirect band gap energy by up to ~ 80 meV. Furthermore, the photoluminescence spectra of suspended MoS2 can be influenced by interference effects.
Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) of single and few-layer thickness was exfoliated on SiO2/Si substrate and characterized by Raman spectroscopy. The number of S-Mo-S layers of the samples was independently determined by contact-mode atomic-force microscopy. Two Raman modes, E12g and A1g, exhibited sensitive thickness dependence, with the frequency of the former decreasing and that of the latter increasing with thickness. The results provide a convenient and reliable means for determining layer thickness with atomic-level precision. The opposite direction of the frequency shifts, which cannot be explained solely by van der Waals interlayer coupling, is attributed to Coulombic interactions and possible stacking-induced changes of the intralayer bonding. This work exemplifies the evolution of structural parameters in layered materials in changing from the 3-dimensional to the 2-dimensional regime.
The two-dimensional semiconductor MoS2 in its mono- and few-layer form is expected to have a significant exciton binding energy of several 100 meV, leading to the consensus that excitons are the primary photoexcited species. Nevertheless, even single layers show a strong photovoltaic effect and work as the active material in high sensitivity photodetectors, thus indicating efficient charge carrier photogeneration (CPG). Here we use continuous wave photomodulation spectroscopy to identify the optical signature of long-lived charge carriers and femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy to follow the CPG dynamics. We find that intitial photoexcitation yields a branching between excitons and charge carriers, followed by excitation energy dependent hot exciton dissociation as an additional CPG mechanism. Based on these findings, we make simple suggestions for the design of more efficient MoS2 photovoltaic and photodetector devices.
By creating defects via oxygen plasma treatment, we demonstrate optical properties variation of single-layer MoS2. We found that, with increasing plasma exposure time, the photoluminescence (PL) evolves from very high intensity to complete quenching, accompanied by gradual reduction and broadening of MoS2 Raman modes, indicative of distortion of the MoS2 lattice after oxygen bombardment. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study shows the appearance of Mo6+ peak, suggesting the creation of MoO3 disordered regions in the MoS2 flake. Finally, using band structure calculations, we demonstrate that the creation of MoO3 disordered domains upon exposure to oxygen plasma leads to a direct to indirect bandgap transition in single-layer MoS2, which explains the observed PL quenching.
The electron-phonon coupling strength in the spin-split valence band maximum of single-layer MoS$_2$ is studied using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and density functional theory-based calculations. Values of the electron-phonon coupling parameter $lambda$ are obtained by measuring the linewidth of the spin-split bands as a function of temperature and fitting the data points using a Debye model. The experimental values of $lambda$ for the upper and lower spin-split bands at K are found to be 0.05 and 0.32, respectively, in excellent agreement with the calculated values for a free-standing single-layer MoS$_2$. The results are discussed in the context of spin and phase-space restricted scattering channels, as reported earlier for single-layer WS$_2$ on Au(111). The fact that the absolute valence band maximum in single-layer MoS$_2$ at K is almost degenerate with the local valence band maximum at $Gamma$ can potentially be used to tune the strength of the electron-phonon interaction in this material.
We have decoupled the intrinsic optical and electrostatic effects arising in monolayer and few-layer molybdenum disulphide from those influenced by the flake-substrate interaction.