Dependence of coupling of quasi 2-D MoS2 with substrates on substrate types, probed by temperature dependent Raman scattering.

This work reports a study on the temperature dependence of in-plane E and out-of-plane A1g Raman modes of single-layer (1L) and bi-layer (2L) MoS2 films on sapphire (epitaxial) and SiO2 (transferred) substrates as well as bulk MoS2 single crystals in a temperature range of 25-500 °C. For the films on the transferred SiO2 substrate, the in-plane E mode is only weakly affected by the substrate, whereas the out-of-plane A1g mode is strongly perturbed, showing highly nonlinear, sometimes even non-monotonic, temperature dependence on the Raman peak shift and linewidth. In contrast, for the films on the epitaxial sapphire substrate, E is affected more significantly by the substrate than A1g. This study suggests that the 2-D film-substrate coupling depends sensitively on the preparation method, and in particular on the film morphology for the transferred film. These findings are vitally important for the fundamental understanding and application of this quasi 2-D material that is expected to be supported by a substrate in most circumstances.