Ion-Induced Surface Charge Dynamics in Freestanding Monolayers of Graphene and MoS2 Probed by the Emission of Electrons

We compare the ion-induced electron emission from freestanding monolayers of graphene and MoS2 to find a sixfold higher number of emitted electrons for graphene even though both materials have similar work functions. An effective single-band Hubbard model explains this finding by a charge-up in MoS2 that prevents low energy electrons from escaping the surface within a period of a few femtoseconds after ion impact. We support these results by measuring the electron energy distribution for correlated pairs of electrons and transmitted ions. The majority of emitted primary electrons have an energy below 10 eV and are therefore subject to the dynamic charge-up effects at surfaces.

Automated summary

We compared the ion-induced electron emission from freestanding monolayers of graphene and MoS2 and found that graphene emitted six times more electrons, despite both materials having similar work functions. This can be explained by a charge-up in MoS2 that prevents low energy electrons from escaping the surface within a few femtoseconds after ion impact.