In-Plane Optical Anisotropy and Linear Dichroism in Low-Symmetry Layered TlSe

In-plane anisotropy of layered materials adds another dimension to their applications, opening up avenues in diverse angle-resolved devices. However, to fulfill a strong inherent in-plane anisotropy in layered materials still poses a significant challenge as it often requires a low-symmetry nature of layered materials. Here, we report the fabrication of a member of layered semiconducting AIIIBVI compounds TlSe which possesses a low-symmetry tetragonal structure, and investigate its anisotropic light-matter interactions. We first identify the in-plane Raman-intensity anisotropy of thin-layer TlSe, offering unambiguous evidence that the anisotropy is sensitive to crystalline orientation. Further in-situ azimuth-dependent reflectance difference microscopy enables to directly evaluate in-plane optical anisotropy of layered TlSe and we demonstrate that the TlSe shows a linear dichroism under polarized absorption spectra arising from in-plane anisotropic optical property. As a direct result of the linear dichroism, we successfully fabricate TlSe devices for polarization-sensitive photodetection. The discovery of layered TlSe with a strong in-plane anisotropy not only facilitates its applications in linear dichroic photodetection, but opens up more possibilities for other functional device applications.