Nanoscale Optical Spectroscopy: An Emerging Tool for the Characterisation of 2 D Materials

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2?D) materials have opened up new frontiers in materials science that can potentially lead to more efficient and cost-effective devices for a range of application areas. In this article we provide a comprehensive description of real surfaces of 2?D materials including that of graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides, and review the recent progress on the use of nanoscale spectroscopy tools in investigating these ‘all-surface’ materials to characterise disorder, contamination, edge-effects and electronic properties.