Self-energy corrections to zone-edge acoustic phonons in monolayer and bilayer WS2

The self-energy corrections to phonons have mostly been observed for modes with zone-center ($q=0$) wave vectors. Here, we investigated the self-energy corrections to phonons in ionic-liquid-gated semiconductors, i.e., monolayer and bilayer WS₂, experimentally. Apart from the previously observed A1g(Γ) mode renormalization by Raman spectroscopy, we additionally discovered that the zone-edge longitudinal acoustic (LA(M)) phonon also softened under finite electron doping. This observed renormalization effect arises from the LA(M) phonon-assisted electron scattering between the K and Q valleys in the conduction bands, indicating the nonadiabatic self-energy corrections dominate, different from the A1g(Γ) mode. The self-energy corrections of the two modes both depend on layer configurations. Our findings suggest that WS₂ and other similar two-dimensional materials are intriguing playgrounds to study the electron-phonon interactions and valley-related physics.