Raman scattering from the bulk inactive out-of-plane B2g1^{1}_{2\text{g}} mode in few-layer MoTe2_{2}

Raman scattering from the out-of-plane vibrational modes (A$_{1\text{g}}$/A'$_{1}$), which originate from the bulk-inactive out-of-plane B$^{1}_{2\text{g}}$ mode, are studied in few-layer MoTe$_{2}$. Temperature-dependent measurements reveal a doublet structure of the corresponding peaks in the Raman scattering spectra of tetralayer and pentalayer samples. A strong enhancement of their lower energy components is recorded at low temperature for 1.91 eV and 1.96 eV laser excitation. We discuss the attribution of the peaks to the inner modes of the respective Raman-active vibrations. The temperature evolution of their intensity strongly suggests a resonant character of the employed excitation, which leads to the mode enhancement at low temperature. The resonance of the laser light with the singularity of the electronic density of states at the $M$ point of the Brillouin zone in MoTe$_{2}$ is proposed to be responsible for the observed effects.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Intervalley scattering by acoustic phonons in two-dimensional MoS2 revealed by double-resonance Raman spectroscopy

Double-resonance Raman scattering is a sensitive probe to study the electron-phonon scattering pathways in crystals. For semiconducting two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides, the double-resonance Raman process involves different valleys and phonons in the Brillouin zone, and it has not yet been fully understood. Here we present a multiple energy excitation Raman study in conjunction with density functional theory calculations that unveil the double-resonance Raman scattering process in monolayer and bulk MoS2. Results show that the frequency of some Raman features shifts when changing the excitation energy, and first-principle simulations confirm that such bands arise from distinct acoustic phonons, connecting different valley states. The double-resonance Raman process is affected by the indirect-to-direct bandgap transition, and a comparison of results in monolayer and bulk allows the assignment of each Raman feature near the M or K points of the Brillouin zone. Our work highlights the underlying physics of intervalley scattering of electrons by acoustic phonons, which is essential for valley depolarization in MoS2

Influence of iron nanowires oxidation on their semiconducting properties

The main aim of this work was to study the impact of thermal annealing on the structure of iron oxide shell covering iron nanowires in relation to their semiconducting properties. Studied nanomaterial has been produced via a simple chemical reduction in an external magnetic field and then it has been thermally-treated at 400°C, 600°C and also 800°C in a slightly oxidizing argon atmosphere. Annealed iron nanowires have been characterized by means of the Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence in order to study the structure of iron oxide shell and its influence on semiconducting properties of the whole nanostructure. According to obtained experimental results, the composition of iron oxide shell covering the studied nanomaterial is changing with annealing temperature. The thermal treatment at 400°C leads to oxidation of iron coming from the core of nanomaterial and formation of a mixture of Fe₃O₄ and α -Fe₂O₃ on the surfaces of nanowires, while annealing at higher temperatures results in further oxidation of iron as well as the phase transformation of previously created Fe₃O₄ into the most thermodynamically stable form of iron oxide at ambient conditions - α -Fe₂O₃. This oxide has a major impact on the semiconducting properties of studied nanomaterial. Thereby, the measurements of photoluminescence enabled to estimate the bandgap of bulk and surface layer at about 1.8 eV and 2.1 eV, respectively

Fine Structure of Neutral Excitons in Single GaAlAs Quantum Dots

Optical anisotropy of neutral excitons in GaAlAs/AlAs quantum dots is investigated. Low-temperature polarization-sensitive photoluminescence measurements of single quantum dots are performed. It is found that neutral excitons (X) in the quantum dots exhibit a fine structure splitting. The fine structure splitting ranges from 10 μeV to 100 μeV and correlates with the X energy. The polarization axis of the fine structure splitting is well oriented along [110] crystallographic direction of a substrate. The orientation is attributed to the elongation of GaAlAs/AlAs quantum dots in the [110] direction of the substrate

The disorder-induced Raman scattering in Au/MoS2 heterostructures

The Raman scattering has been studied in heterostructures composed of a thin MoS2 flake and a 1-1.5 nm layer of thermally evaporated gold (Au). There have been Au nanoislands detected in the heterostructure. It has been found that their surface density and the average size depend on the MoS2 thickness. The Raman scattering spectrum in the heterostructure with a few monolayer MoS2 only weakly depends on the excitation (resonant vs. non-resonant) mode. The overall Raman spectrum corresponds to the total density of phonon states, which is characteristic for disordered systems. The disorder in the MoS2 layer is related to the mechanical strain induced in the MoS2 layer by the Au nanoislands. The strain results in the localization of phonon modes, which leads to the relaxation of the momentum conservation rule in the scattering process. The relaxation allows phonons from the whole MoS2 Brillouin zone to interact with electronic excitations. Our results show that the Au nanoislands resulted from thermal evaporation of a thin metal layer introduce substantial disorder into the crystalline structure of the thin MoS2 layers

Confocal Microscope Studies of MoS2MoS_{2} Layer Thickness

We have been studying micro-luminescence of various exfoliated $MoS_{2}$ flakes using a confocal microscope. A crucial issue is to determine thickness of the investigated layer. The common way - using atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy or the Raman spectroscopy - requires moving the sample out from the confocal microscope experimental setup and looking for a particular exfoliated flake hidden among thousands of others. In order to preliminarily determine thickness of investigated layers we have performed a study on optical reflectivity and compared the results with the Raman spectroscopy investigations. In this way we were able to calibrate our experimental setup. Optical measurements are much faster than the Raman spectroscopy and can give a good estimation of $MoS_{2}$ thickness

Raman spectroscopy of shear modes in a few-layer MoS₂

We study low frequency vibrational modes in atomically thin molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) by means of the Raman scattering spectroscopy. A shear mode related to rigid interlayer vibrations is identified. Its energy evolution with the increasing number of layers is well described using a linear chain model with only nearest neighbor interactions. The resulting force constant (Kₓ = 2.7 × 10¹⁹ N/m³) corresponds well to the previously published data

The Effect of Substrate on Vibrational Properties of Single-Layer MoS_2

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Raman scattering of few-layers MoTe 2

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