Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Central Florida have demonstrated that small changes in the isotopic content of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor materials can influence their optical and electronic properties. The scientists grew 2D crystals of atomically thin molybdenum disulfide using molybdenum atoms of different masses. They noticed small shifts in the color of light emitted by the crystals after they were stimulated by light. "Unexpectedly, the light from the molybdenum disulfide with the heavier molybdenum atoms was shifted farther to the red end of the spectrum, which is opposite to the shift one would expect for bulk materials," said Kai Xiao, one of the scientists involved in this study.
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