Probing the edge-related properties of atomically thin MoS(2) at nanoscale

Defects can induce drastic changes of the electronic properties of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides and influence their applications. It is still a great challenge to characterize small defects and correlate their structures with properties. Here, we show that tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) can obtain distinctly different Raman features of edge defects in atomically thin MoS(2), which allows us to probe their unique electronic properties and identify defect types (e.g., armchair and zigzag edges) in ambient. We observed an edge-induced Raman peak (396 cm(−1)) activated by the double resonance Raman scattering (DRRS) process and revealed electron–phonon interaction in edges. We further visualize the edge-induced band bending region by using this DRRS peak and electronic transition region using the electron density-sensitive Raman peak at 406 cm(−1). The power of TERS demonstrated in MoS(2) can also be extended to other 2D materials, which may guide the defect engineering for desired properties.