Strain-induced modulation of the local conductance in MoS2 layers on gold nanoparticles

• Gold nanoparticles induce local strain in mono- and few-layer MoS₂ • Tensile strain in suspended MoS₂ monolayers reaches up to 1.26% • Local conductance of monolayer MoS₂ is modulated by strain and doping from gold • Local conductance of few-layer MoS₂ is modulated only by strain • TUNA measurements reveal spatially textured nanoscale electronic properties Strained mono- and multilayer MoS₂ structures were synthesized via exfoliation onto thin gold films followed by annealing at 400 °C. Annealing transformed the gold film into nanoparticles, leading to suspended MoS₂ regions. Raman spectroscopy revealed enhanced local strain in suspended monolayer regions compared to those supported by the SiO₂ substrate. Tunneling atomic force microscopy (TUNA) measurements showed that the conductance in monolayers is modulated by both strain and charge transfer from gold nanoparticles. In contrast, the conductance of multilayer MoS₂ showed variations primarily reflecting the effects of strain, indicating local strain-induced narrowing of the bandgap.