Stacking
two dimensional tunneling heterostructures has always
been an important strategy to improve the optoelectronic device performance.
However, there are still many disputes about the blocking ability
of monolayer (1L-) h-BN on the interlayer coupling. Graphene/h-BN/MoS2 optoelectronic devices have been reported for superior device
results. In this study, starting with graphene/h-BN/MoS2 heterostructures, we report experimental evidence of 1L-h-BN barrier
layer modulation effects about the electronic band structures and
exciton properties. We find that 1L-h-BN insertion only partially
blocks the interlayer carrier transfer. In the meantime, the 1L-h-BN
barrier layer weakens the interlayer coupling effect, by decreasing
the efficient dielectric screening and releasing the quantum confinement.
Consequently, the optical conductivity and plasmon excitation slightly
improve, and the electronic band structures remain unchanged in graphene/h-BN/MoS2, explaining their fascinating optoelectronic responses. Moreover,
the excitonic binding energies of graphene/h-BN/MoS2 redshift
with respect to the graphene/MoS2 counterparts. Our results,
as well as the broadband optical constants, will help better understand
the h-BN barrier layers, facilitating the developing progress of h-BN-based
tunneling optoelectronic devices.