Raman scattering and anomalous Stokes–anti-Stokes ratio in MoTe(2) atomic layers

Stokes and anti-Stokes Raman scattering are performed on atomic layers of hexagonal molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe(2)), a prototypical transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) semiconductor. The data reveal all six types of zone center optical phonons, along with their corresponding Davydov splittings, which have been challenging to see in other TMDCs. We discover that the anti-Stokes Raman intensity of the low energy layer-breathing mode becomes more intense than the Stokes peak under certain experimental conditions, and find the effect to be tunable by excitation frequency and number of atomic layers. These observations are interpreted as a result of resonance effects arising from the C excitons in the vicinity of the Brillouin zone center in the photon-electron-phonon interaction process.