Substrate-induced electronic localization in monolayer MoS2 measured via terahertz spectroscopy

We study terahertz (THz) optoelectronic properties of monolayer (ML) MoS2 placed on different substrates such as SiO2/Si, sapphire, and quartz. Through the measurements of THz Fourier transform spectroscopy (2.5–6.5 THz) and THz time-domain spectroscopy (TDS, 0.2–1.2 THz), we find that the real part of optical conductivity increases for ML MoS2 on SiO2/Si and sapphire substrates and decreases for it on quartz with increasing radiation frequency. It is shown that the complex optical conductivity for ML MoS2, obtained from THz TDS measurements, can fit very well to the Drude–Smith formula. Thus, the dependence of optical conductivity of ML MoS2 on different substrates can be understood via a mechanism of electronic localization, and the electron density, relaxation time, and localization factor of the sample can be determined optically. Furthermore, we examine the influence of temperature on these key parameters in ML MoS2 on different substrates. The results obtained from this Letter indicate that THz spectroscopy is a very powerful tool in studying and characterizing ML MoS2-based electronic systems, especially in examining the electronic localization effect which cannot be directly measured in conventional electrical transport experiment. This Letter is relevant to an in-depth understanding of the optoelectronic properties of ML MoS2 and of the proximity effect induced by different substrates.