We investigate the effect of Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC) on the optoelectronic properties of $n$- and $p$-type monolayer ${\mathrm{MoS}}_2$. The optical conductivity is calculated within the Kubo formalism. We find that the spin-flip transitions enabled by the Rashba SOC result in a wide absorption window in the optical spectrum. Furthermore, we evaluate the effects of the polarization direction of the radiation, temperature, carrier density, and the strength of the Rashba spin-orbit parameter on the optical conductivity. We find that the position, width, and shape of the absorption peak or absorption window can be tuned by varying these parameters. This study shows that monolayer ${\mathrm{MoS}}_2$ can be a promising tunable optical and optoelectronic material that is active in the infrared to terahertz spectral range.

• Received 14 July 2016
• Revised 21 September 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.155432