The effect of strain on the phonon modes of monolayer and few-layer MoS 2 has been investigated by observing the strain-induced shifts of the Raman-active modes. Uniaxial strain was applied to a sample of thin-layer MoS 2 sandwiched between two layers of optically transparent polymer. The resulting band shifts of the E 2 1 g (∼385.3 cm −1) and A 1g (∼402.4 cm −1) Raman modes were found to be small but observable. First-principles plane-wave calculations based on density functional perturbation theory were used to determine the Grüneisen parameters for the E 1g , E 2 1 g , A 1g , and A 2u modes and predict the experimentally observed band shifts for the monolayer material. The polymer-MoS 2 interface is found to remain intact through several strain cycles. As an emerging 2D material with potential in future nanoelectronics, these results have important consequences for the incorporation of thin-layer MoS 2 into devices.

Recent dramatic progress in studying various two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystals and their heterostructures calls for better and more detailed understanding of their crystallography, reconstruction, stacking order, etc. For this, direct imaging and identification of each and every atom is essential. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) are ideal and perhaps the only tools for such studies. However, the electron beam can in some cases induce dramatic structure changes, and radiation damage becomes an obstacle in obtaining the desired information in imaging and chemical analysis in the (S)TEM. This is the case of 2D materials such as molybdenum disulfide MoS2, but also of many biological specimens, molecules, and proteins. Thus, minimizing damage to the specimen is essential for optimum microscopic analysis. In this article we demonstrate, on the example of MoS2, that encapsulation of such crystals between two layers of graphene allows for a dramatic improvement in stability of the studied 2D crystal and permits careful control over the defect nature and formation in it. We present STEM data collected from single-layer MoS2 samples prepared for observation in the microscope through three distinct procedures. The fabricated single-layer MoS2 samples were either left bare (pristine), placed atop a single-layer of graphene, or finally encapsulated between single graphene layers. Their behavior under the electron beam is carefully compared, and we show that the MoS2 sample "sandwiched" between the graphene layers has the highest durability and lowest defect formation rate compared to the other two samples, for very similar experimental conditions.

We demonstrate that 60-keV electron irradiation drives the diffusion of threefold-coordinated Si dopants in graphene by one lattice site at a time. First principles simulations reveal that each step is caused by an electron impact on a C atom next to the dopant. Although the atomic motion happens below our experimental time resolution, stochastic analysis of 38 such lattice jumps reveals a probability for their occurrence in a good agreement with the simulations. Conversions from three- to fourfold coordinated dopant structures and the subsequent reverse process are significantly less likely than the direct bond inversion. Our results thus provide a model of nondestructive and atomically precise structural modification and detection for two-dimensional materials.

A combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, and ab initio calculations reveal striking electronic structure differences between two distinct single substitutional Si defect geometries in graphene. Optimised acquisition conditions allow for exceptional signal-to-noise levels in the spectroscopic data. The near-edge fine structure can be compared with great accuracy to simulations and reveal either an sp(3)-like configuration for a trivalent Si or a more complicated hybridized structure for a tetravalent Si impurity.