Self-Assembled Oxide Nanoneedle-Induced Strain for Tunable Excitonic Emission in Monolayer MoS2
- 1RMIT University , , , ,
- 2BITS-Pilani K. K. Birla Goa Campus , , , ,
Abstract
Strain engineering has emerged as a powerful approach for tailoring the optical response of two-dimensional semiconductors. In this work, we show that monolayer MoS2 exhibits tunable excitonic emission, when nanoneedle-like oxide protrusions form across the monolayer surface during a photo-oxidation-assisted exfoliation process. These protrusions locally deform the lattice, generating spatially varying strain fields within the MoS2 layer. Photoluminescence and Raman measurements reveal a clear correlation between strained regions, exciton peak shifts, and enhanced emission, with the photoluminescence intensity increasing by approximately 3-fold, accompanied by a red shift of the in-plane (E2g1) vibrational mode, indicative of strain. Furthermore, selected monolayers and unexfoliated regions exhibit additional emergent near-infrared photoluminescence features absent in pristine MoS2. Unlike conventional strain-engineering approaches requiring external mechanical deformation, specialized substrate prepatterning, or complex heterostructures, this simple one-step process generates intrinsic nanoneedle-induced strain, providing an effective route for tailoring excitonic recombination and extending the optical response of monolayer TMDCs.
Related
- Sulfur‐to‐Metal Single‐Atom Editing of a Thiourea Self‐Assembled Monolayer into an Adatom‐Bound N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Monolayer on Coinage Metal Surfaces
- Perovskite Photovoltaics in July 2026: Trap density and ion migration, self-assembled monolayer contacts
- Anisotropic Γ-Valley Interlayer Excitonic Emission in Anisotropic-Isotropic 2D Heterostructures.
- Hydrophobic Hydration at Fluorinated and Hydrocarbon Self-Assembled Monolayers Investigated by In Situ Soft X-Ray Emission Spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics Simulation.
- Nonlinear directional emission on monolayer MoS ₂ by optical orbit-orbit coupling
BibTeX
@article{lone2026selfassembled,
title = {{Self-Assembled Oxide Nanoneedle-Induced Strain for Tunable Excitonic Emission in Monolayer MoS2}},
author = {Rashed H. Lone and Shreya Gaonkar and Deepak Sharma and Shruti Nirantar and E. S. Kannan},
journal = {ACS Omega},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1021/acsomega.6c04805},
url = {https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/11/41/62866/5444081/Self-Assembled-Oxide-Nanoneedle-Induced-Strain-for},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Self-Assembled Oxide Nanoneedle-Induced Strain for Tunable Excitonic Emission in Monolayer MoS2
AU - Rashed H. Lone
AU - Shreya Gaonkar
AU - Deepak Sharma
AU - Shruti Nirantar
AU - E. S. Kannan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
JO - ACS Omega
DO - 10.1021/acsomega.6c04805
UR - https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/11/41/62866/5444081/Self-Assembled-Oxide-Nanoneedle-Induced-Strain-for
AB - Strain engineering has emerged as a powerful approach for tailoring the optical response of two-dimensional semiconductors. In this work, we show that monolayer MoS2 exhibits tunable excitonic emission, when nanoneedle-like oxide protrusions form across the monolayer surface during a photo-oxidation-assisted exfoliation process. These protrusions locally deform the lattice, generating spatially varying strain fields within the MoS2 layer. Photoluminescence and Raman measurements reveal a clear correlation between strained regions, exciton peak shifts, and enhanced emission, with the photoluminescence intensity increasing by approximately 3-fold, accompanied by a red shift of the in-plane (E2g1) vibrational mode, indicative of strain. Furthermore, selected monolayers and unexfoliated regions exhibit additional emergent near-infrared photoluminescence features absent in pristine MoS2. Unlike conventional strain-engineering approaches requiring external mechanical deformation, specialized substrate prepatterning, or complex heterostructures, this simple one-step process generates intrinsic nanoneedle-induced strain, providing an effective route for tailoring excitonic recombination and extending the optical response of monolayer TMDCs.
SN - 2470-1343
ER -