3D Hypersound Microscopy of van der Waals Heterostructures

The mechanical properties of the layered crystals in the few layer limit are largely unexplored. We employ a picosecond ultrasonic technique to access the corresponding mechanical parameters. Temporal variation of the reflection coefficient of the Al film that covers hBN/WSe₂/hBN (where hBN is hexagonal boron nitride) heterostructures on a sapphire substrate after the femtosecond laser pulse excitation is carefully measured using an interferometric technique with spatial resolution. The laser pulse generates a broadband sound wave packet propagating perpendicularly to the Al plane and partially reflecting from the heterostructural interfaces. The demonstrated technique allows one to resolve a WSe₂ monolayer embedded in hBN. We apply a multilayered model of the optoacoustical response to evaluate the mechanical parameters, in particular, the rigidity of the interfaces. Mapping of the Fourier spectra of the response visualizes different composition regions and may serve as an acoustic tomography tool. Almost zero phonon dissipation below 150 GHz demonstrates the van der Waals heterostructures' potential for nanoacoustical applications.