2DMT: Photoluminescence spectroscopy. Part I.

In this article, we will discuss the use of room-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy for the characterisation of material properties of the four most commonly studied semiconducting group-VI transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs): WS2, MoS2, WSe2, and MoSe2.

We will show how photoluminescence spectroscopy can be used to identify material composition, number of layers, strain, carrier concentration, and disorder level in atomically thin TMD samples. While the accuracy of information extracted from photoluminescence spectra acquired at room temperature is limited by phonon-induced broadening of emission peaks, it can be used for qualitative assessment, providing convenient and accessible way of characterising various material parameters.