Three-Dimensional Optical Anisotropy of Low-Symmetry Layered GeS

In-plane anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) materials, especially black phosphorus and ReS₂, have attracted significant interest recently as they can provide one more dimension to manipulate their physical properties when compared with isotropic 2D materials. As a representative anisotropic 2D material, germanium monosulfide (GeS) has emerged as a new research hot topic in this field because of its unique in-plane anisotropic physical properties. Despite the rapid growing progress in the study of GeS, many of their fundamental optical anisotropies are still absent. Here, we report the three-dimensional (3D) optical anisotropy of GeS from theory to experiment. The 3D optical anisotropic properties including extinction, refraction, absorption, and reflection were systematically investigated through density functional calculations. The anisotropic refraction and reflection of GeS were experimentally verified by polarization-resolved optical microscopy and azimuth-dependent reflectance difference microscopy, respectively. Finally, a GeS-based linear dichroic photodetector was demonstrated with a dichroic ratio of 1.45 because of its polarization sensitive absorption. Our results provide deep insights into the optical anisotropy of GeS, which is important for the further development of GeS-based optoelectronic and optical devices.