Bandgap Tunability of Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Atomic Layers.

The temperature-dependent bandgap of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs, MX2; M = Mo or W; X = S, Se, or Te) is analyzed using the O'Donnell and Chen relation with parameters including the average acoustic phonon energy (〈ħω〉) and the electron-phonon coupling strength (s). Wider (narrower) tunability of the bandgap results from the larger (smaller) electron-phonon coupling strength for a constant acoustic phonon energy. A 1.5 eV bandgap change was observed for weak electron-phonon coupling (s = 2) as well as with the strong electron-phonon coupling (s = 30). However, the weak electron-phonon coupling leads to a linear decrease in the bandgap energy as a function of temperature above ~85 K while the strong coupling exhibits similar behavior after ~60 K. Narrower (wider) tunability of the bandgap results from the larger (smaller) acoustic phonon energy for a constant electron-phonon coupling strength. The slope of negative entropy of exciton formation is large (small) at lower (higher) temperature. The management of the electron-phonon interaction as well as the average acoustic phonon energy indicates the ability to control the bandgap.