Black Phosphorus: Optical Characterization, Properties and Applications

The rise of black phosphorus (BP) as a new family member of two-dimensional (2D) materials brings new concepts and applications to the field, because of the infrared band gap and anisotropic properties of such materials. Among many excellent properties of BP, the optical property attracts special attention in recent years. Optical methods have been widely and successfully used in characterizing BP, not only to obtain the structural information (such as thickness and crystalline orientation), but also to probe the fundamental properties of BP in terms of the behavior of electrons, phonons, excitons etc. In this Review, a comprehensive understanding about the optical characterization of BP such as Raman, absorption, and photoluminescence is presented. Also, the unique optical properties and applications explored in recent years are reviewed.