Nano-optical Imaging of In-Plane Homojunctions in Graphene and MoS2 van der Waals Heterostructures on Talc and SiO2

Disentangling doping and strain effects at defects of grown MoS2 monolayers with nano-optical spectroscopy

The role of defects in two-dimensional semiconductors and how they affect the intrinsic properties of these materials have been a widely researched topic over the past few decades. Optical characterization techniques such as photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopies are important tools to probe the physical properties of semiconductors and the impact of defects. However, confocal optical techniques present a spatial resolution limitation lying in a μm-scale, which can be overcome by the use of near-field optical measurements. Here, we use tip-enhanced photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopies to unveil the nanoscale optical properties of grown MoS2 monolayers, revealing that the impact of doping and strain can be disentangled by the combination of both techniques. A noticeable enhancement of the exciton peak intensity corresponding to trion emission quenching is observed at narrow regions down to a width of 47 nm at grain boundaries related to doping effects. Besides, localized strain fields inside the sample lead to non-uniformities in the intensity and energy position of photoluminescence peaks. Finally, two distinct MoS2 samples present different nano-optical responses at their edges associated with opposite strains. The edge of the first sample shows a photoluminescence intensity enhancement and energy blueshift corresponding to a frequency blueshift for E2g and 2LA Raman modes. In contrast, the other sample displays a photoluminescence energy redshift and frequency red shifts for E2g and 2LA Raman modes at their edges. Our work highlights the potential of combining tip-enhanced photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopies to probe localized strain fields and doping effects related to defects in two-dimensional materials.

Electro-optical properties of a graphene device on a tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy system

This paper investigates the impact of graphene on tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) by developing an electromagnetic characterization of the TERS-graphene device system. The study focuses on the interaction between the tip, the gate voltage, and the sample, specifically examining the electromagnetic effects in the system. Employing a finite element method (FEM)-based simulation model, we meticulously dissect the electric field distribution and the Raman amplification when graphene is introduced into the system. Our findings reveal that including graphene results in a marginal reduction in Raman amplification and a negligible variation in the induced charges within the system. To reinforce our simulations, we employ a simplified capacitor model, which corroborates our results, showcasing negligible induced charges and validating the obtained capacitance values. In this manuscript, we also explore the influence of the setup on the electro-optical properties of graphene, revealing a slight variation in conductivity despite strong changes in chemical potential. Overall, this work contributes to understanding TERS's electromagnetic aspects in the presence of graphene.

Review on infrared nanospectroscopy of natural 2D phyllosilicates

Phyllosilicates have emerged as a promising class of large bandgap lamellar insulators. Their applications have been explored from the fabrication of graphene-based devices to 2D heterostructures based on transition metal dichalcogenides with enhanced optical and polaritonics properties. In this review, we provide an overview of the use of infrared (IR) scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) for studying nano-optics and local chemistry of a variety of 2D natural phyllosilicates. Finally, we bring a brief update on applications that combine natural lamellar minerals into multifunctional nanophotonic devices driven by electrical control.

Stability of Non-Concentric, Multilayer, and Fully Aligned Porous MoS2 Nanotubes

Nanotubes made of non-concentric and multiple small layers of porous MoS₂ contain inner pores suitable for membrane applications. In this study, molecular dynamics simulations using reactive potentials were employed to estimate the stability of the nanotubes and how their stability compares to macroscopic single- (1L) and double-layer MoS₂ flakes. The observed stability was explained in terms of several analyses that focused on the size of the area of full-covered layers, number of layers, polytype, and size of the holes in the 1L flakes. The reactive potential used in this work reproduced experimental results that have been previously reported, including the small dependency of the stability on the polytype, the formation of S-S bonds between inter- and intra-planes, and the limit of stability for two concentric rings forming a single ring-like flake.

Electron-Phonon Coupling in a Magic-Angle Twisted-Bilayer Graphene Device from Gate-Dependent Raman Spectroscopy and Atomistic Modeling

The importance of phonons in the strong correlation phenomena observed in twisted-bilayer graphene (TBG) at the so-called magic-angle is under debate. Here we apply gate-dependent micro-Raman spectroscopy to monitor the G band line width in TBG devices of twist angles θ = 0° (Bernal), ∼1.1° (magic-angle), and ∼7° (large-angle). The results show a broad and p-/n-asymmetric doping behavior at the magic angle, in clear contrast to the behavior observed in twist angles above and below this point. Atomistic modeling reproduces the experimental observations in close connection with the joint density of electronic states in the electron-phonon scattering process, revealing how the unique electronic structure of magic-angle TBGs influences the electron-phonon coupling and, consequently, the G band line width. Overall, the value of the G band line width in magic-angle TBG is larger when compared to that of the other samples, in qualitative agreement with our calculations.

Studying 2D materials with advanced Raman spectroscopy: CARS, SRS and TERS

Raman spectroscopy has been established as a valuable tool to study and characterize two-dimensional (2D) systems, but it exhibits two drawbacks: a relatively weak signal response and a limited spatial resolution. Recently, advanced Raman spectroscopy techniques, such as coherent anti-Stokes spectroscopy (CARS), stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), have been shown to overcome these two limitations. In this article, we review how useful physical information can be retrieved from different 2D materials using these three advanced Raman spectroscopy and imaging techniques, discussing results on graphene, hexagonal boron-nitride, and transition metal di- and mono-chalcogenides, thus providing perspectives for future work in this early-stage field of research, including similar studies on unexplored 2D systems and open questions.