Growth Mechanisms and Electronic Properties of Vertically Aligned MoS2

Silver Decoration of Vertically Aligned MoS2-MoOx Nanosheets: A Comprehensive XPS Investigation

This study investigates the simultaneous decoration of vertically aligned molybdenum disulfide nanostructure (VA-MoS2) with Ag nanoparticles (NPs) and nitrogen functionalization. Nitrogen functionalization was achieved through physical vapor deposition (PVD) DC-magnetron sputtering using nitrogen as a reactive gas, aiming to induce p-type behavior in MoS2. The utilization of reactive sputtering resulted in the growth of three-dimensional silver structures on the surface of MoS2, promoting the formation of silver nanoparticles. A comprehensive characterization was conducted to assess surface modifications and analyze chemical and structural changes. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed the presence of silver on the MoS2 surface. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed successful decoration with silver nanoparticles, showing that deposition time affects the size and distribution of the silver on the MoS2 surface.

Direct synthesis and chemical vapor deposition of 2D carbide and nitride MXenes

Two-dimensional transition-metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) are a large family of materials actively studied for various applications, especially in the field of energy storage. MXenes are commonly synthesized by etching the layered ternary compounds, called MAX phases. We demonstrate a direct synthetic route for scalable and atom-economic synthesis of MXenes, including compounds that have not been synthesized from MAX phases, by the reactions of metals and metal halides with graphite, methane, or nitrogen. The direct synthesis enables chemical vapor deposition growth of MXene carpets and complex spherulite-like morphologies that form through buckling and release of MXene carpet to expose fresh surface for further reaction. The directly synthesized MXenes showed excellent energy storage capacity for lithium-ion intercalation.

Optoelectronics of Atomic Metal-Semiconductor Interfaces in Tin-Intercalated MoS2

Metal-semiconductor interfaces are ubiquitous in modern electronics. These quantum-confined interfaces allow for the formation of atomically thin polarizable metals and feature rich optical and optoelectronic phenomena, including plasmon-induced hot-electron transfer from metal to semiconductors. Here, we report on the metal-semiconductor interface formed during the intercalation of zero-valent atomic layers of tin (Sn) between layers of MoS₂, a van der Waals layered material. We demonstrate that Sn interaction leads to the emergence of gap states within the MoS₂ band gap and to corresponding plasmonic features between 1 and 2 eV (0.6-1.2 μm). The observed stimulation of the photoconductivity, as well as the extension of the spectral response from the visible regime toward the mid-infrared suggests that hot-carrier generation and internal photoemission take place.

Van der Waals Heteroepitaxy of Air-Stable Quasi-Free-Standing Silicene Layers on CVD Epitaxial Graphene/6H-SiC

Graphene, consisting of an inert, thermally stable material with an atomically flat, dangling-bond-free surface, is by essence an ideal template layer for van der Waals heteroepitaxy of two-dimensional materials such as silicene. However, depending on the synthesis method and growth parameters, graphene (Gr) substrates could exhibit, on a single sample, various surface structures, thicknesses, defects, and step heights. These structures noticeably affect the growth mode of epitaxial layers, e.g., turning the layer-by-layer growth into the Volmer-Weber growth promoted by defect-assisted nucleation. In this work, the growth of silicon on chemical vapor deposited epitaxial Gr (1 ML Gr/1 ML Gr buffer) on a 6H-SiC(0001) substrate is investigated by a combination of atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Raman spectroscopy measurements. It is shown that the perfect control of full-scale almost defect-free 1 ML Gr with a single surface structure and the ultraclean conditions for molecular beam epitaxy deposition of silicon represent key prerequisites for ensuring the growth of extended silicene sheets on epitaxial graphene. At low coverages, the deposition of Si produces large silicene sheets (some hundreds of nanometers large) attested by both AFM and SEM observations and the onset of a Raman peak at 560 cm^-1, very close to the theoretical value of 570 cm^-1 calculated for free-standing silicene. This vibrational mode at 560 cm^-1 represents the highest ever experimentally measured value and is representative of quasi-free-standing silicene with almost no interaction with inert nonmetal substrates. From a coverage rate of 1 ML, the silicene sheets disappear at the expense of 3D Si dendritic islands whose density, size, and thickness increase with the deposited thickness. From this coverage, the Raman mode assigned to quasi-free-standing silicene totally vanishes, and the 2D flakes of silicene are no longer observed by AFM. The experimental results are in very good agreement with the results of kinetic Monte Carlo simulations that rationalize the initial flake growth in solid-state dewetting conditions, followed by the growth of ridges surrounding and eventually covering the 2D flakes. A full description of the growth mechanism is given. This study, which covers a wide range of growth parameters, challenges recent results stating the impossibility to grow silicene on a carbon inert surface and is very promising for large-scale silicene growth. It shows that silicene growth can be achieved using perfectly controlled and ultraclean deposition conditions and an almost defect-free Gr substrate.

Multiscale Investigation of the Structural, Electrical and Photoluminescence Properties of MoS2 Obtained by MoO3 Sulfurization

In this paper, we report a multiscale investigation of the compositional, morphological, structural, electrical, and optical emission properties of 2H-MoS2 obtained by sulfurization at 800 °C of very thin MoO3 films (with thickness ranging from ~2.8 nm to ~4.2 nm) on a SiO2/Si substrate. XPS analyses confirmed that the sulfurization was very effective in the reduction of the oxide to MoS2, with only a small percentage of residual MoO3 present in the final film. High-resolution TEM/STEM analyses revealed the formation of few (i.e., 2-3 layers) of MoS2 nearly aligned with the SiO2 surface in the case of the thinnest (~2.8 nm) MoO3 film, whereas multilayers of MoS2 partially standing up with respect to the substrate were observed for the ~4.2 nm one. Such different configurations indicate the prevalence of different mechanisms (i.e., vapour-solid surface reaction or S diffusion within the film) as a function of the thickness. The uniform thickness distribution of the few-layer and multilayer MoS2 was confirmed by Raman mapping. Furthermore, the correlative plot of the characteristic A1g-E2g Raman modes revealed a compressive strain (ε ≈ -0.78 ± 0.18%) and the coexistence of n- and p-type doped areas in the few-layer MoS2 on SiO2, where the p-type doping is probably due to the presence of residual MoO3. Nanoscale resolution current mapping by C-AFM showed local inhomogeneities in the conductivity of the few-layer MoS2, which are well correlated to the lateral changes in the strain detected by Raman. Finally, characteristic spectroscopic signatures of the defects/disorder in MoS2 films produced by sulfurization were identified by a comparative analysis of Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectra with CVD grown MoS2 flakes.

Synthesis of vertically-aligned large-area MoS2nanofilm and its application in MoS2/Si heterostructure photodetector

Van der Waals heterostructures based on the combination of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides and conventional semiconductors offer new opportunities for the next generation of optoelectronics. In this work, the sulfurization of Mo film is used to synthesize vertically-aligned MoS₂nanofilm (V-MoS₂) with wafer-size and layer controllability. The V-MoS₂/n-Si heterojunction was fabricated by using a 20 nm thickness V-MoS₂, and the self-powered broadband photodetectors covering from deep ultraviolet to near infrared is achieved. The device shows superior responsivity (5.06 mA W^-1), good photodetectivity (5.36 × 10¹¹Jones) and high on/off ratioI_on/I_off(8.31 × 10³at 254 nm). Furthermore, the V-MoS₂/n-Si heterojunction device presents a fast response speed with the rise time and fall time being 54.53 ms and 97.83 ms, respectively. The high photoelectric performances could be attributed to the high-quality heterojunction between the V-MoS₂and n-Si. These findings suggest that the V-MoS₂/n-Si heterojunction has great potential applications in the deep ultraviolet-near infrared detection field, and might be used as a part of the construction of integrated optoelectronic systems.

Enhancing Light-Matter Interactions in MoS2 by Copper Intercalation

The intercalation of layered compounds opens up a vast space of new host-guest hybrids, providing new routes for tuning the properties of materials. Here, it is shown that uniform and continuous layers of copper can be intercalated within the van der Waals gap of bulk MoS₂ resulting in a unique Cu-MoS₂ hybrid. The new Cu-MoS₂ hybrid, which remains semiconducting, possesses a unique plasmon resonance at an energy of ≈1eV, giving rise to enhanced optoelectronic activity. Compared with high-performance MoS₂ photodetectors, copper-enhanced devices are superior in their spectral response, which extends into the infrared, and also in their total responsivity, which exceeds 10⁴ A W^-1 . The Cu-MoS₂ hybrids hold promise for supplanting current night-vision technology with compact, advanced multicolor night vision.

Vertically-oriented MoS2 nanosheets for nonlinear optical devices

Transition metal dichalcogenides such as MoS₂ represent promising candidates for building blocks of ultra-thin nanophotonic devices. For such applications, vertically-oriented MoS₂ (v-MoS₂) nanosheets could be advantageous as compared to conventional horizontal MoS₂ (h-MoS₂) given that their inherent broken symmetry would favor an enhanced nonlinear response. However, the current lack of a controllable and reproducible fabrication strategy for v-MoS₂ limits the exploration of this potential. Here we present a systematic study of the growth of v-MoS₂ nanosheets based on the sulfurization of a pre-deposited Mo-metal seed layer. We demonstrate that the sulfurization process at high temperatures is driven by the diffusion of sulfur from the vapor-solid interface to the Mo seed layer. Furthermore, we verify an enhanced nonlinear response in the resulting v-MoS₂ nanostructures as compared to their horizontal counterparts. Our results represent a stepping stone towards the fabrication of low-dimensional TMD-based nanostructures for versatile nonlinear nanophotonic devices.

Wafer-Scale Growth of 2D PtTe2 with Layer Orientation Tunable High Electrical Conductivity and Superior Hydrophobicity

Platinum ditelluride (PtTe₂) is an emerging semimetallic two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) crystal with intriguing band structures and unusual topological properties. Despite much devoted efforts, scalable and controllable synthesis of large-area 2D PtTe₂ with well-defined layer orientation has not been established, leaving its projected structure-property relationship largely unclarified. Herein, we report a scalable low-temperature growth of 2D PtTe₂ layers on an area greater than a few square centimeters by reacting Pt thin films of controlled thickness with vaporized tellurium at 400 °C. We systematically investigated their thickness-dependent 2D layer orientation as well as its correlated electrical conductivity and surface property. We unveil that 2D PtTe₂ layers undergo three distinct growth mode transitions, i.e., horizontally aligned holey layers, continuous layer-by-layer lateral growth, and horizontal-to-vertical layer transition. This growth transition is a consequence of competing thermodynamic and kinetic factors dictated by accumulating internal strain, analogous to the transition of Frank-van der Merwe (FM) to Stranski-Krastanov (SK) growth in epitaxial thin-film models. The exclusive role of the strain on dictating 2D layer orientation has been quantitatively verified by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) strain mapping analysis. These centimeter-scale 2D PtTe₂ layers exhibit layer orientation tunable metallic transports yielding the highest value of ∼1.7 × 10⁶ S/m at a certain critical thickness, supported by a combined verification of density functional theory (DFT) and electrical measurements. Moreover, they show intrinsically high hydrophobicity manifested by the water contact angle (WCA) value up to ∼117°, which is the highest among all reported 2D TMDCs of comparable dimensions and geometries. Accordingly, this study confirms the high material quality of these emerging large-area 2D PtTe₂ layers, projecting vast opportunities employing their tunable layer morphology and semimetallic properties from investigations of novel quantum phenomena to applications in electrocatalysis.

Development of a SnS Film Process for Energy Device Applications

Tin monosulfide (SnS) is a promising p-type semiconductor material for energy devices. To realize the device application of SnS, studies on process improvement and film characteristics of SnS is needed. Thus, we developed a new film process using atomic layer deposition (ALD) to produce SnS films with high quality and various film characteristics. First, a process for obtaining a thick SnS film was studied. An amorphous SnS2 (a-SnS2) film with a high growth rate was deposited by ALD, and a thick SnS film was obtained using phase transition of a-SnS2 film by vacuum annealing. Subsequently, we investigated the effect of seed layer on formation of SnS film to verify the applicability of SnS to various devices. Separately deposited crystalline SnS and SnS2 thin films were used as seed layer. The SnS film with a SnS seed showed small grain size and high film density from the low surface energy of the SnS seed. In the case of the SnS film using a SnS2 seed, volume expansion occurred by vertically grown SnS grains due to a lattice mismatch with the SnS2 seed. The obtained SnS film using the SnS2 seed exhibited a large reactive site suitable for ion exchange.

Carbide-free one-zone sulfurization method grows thin MoS2 layers on polycrystalline CVD diamond

The last few decades faced on the fabrication of advanced engineering materials involving also different composites. Here, we report on the fabrication of few-layer molybdenum disulfide on top of thin polycrystalline diamond substrates with a high specific surface area. In the method, pre-deposited molybdenum coatings were sulfurized in a one-zone furnace at ambient pressure. As-prepared MoS₂ layers were characterized by several techniques including grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We found out that the initial thickness of Mo films determined the final c-axis crystallographic orientation of MoS₂ layer as previously observed on other substrates. Even though it is well-known that Mo diffuses into diamond at elevated temperatures, the competing sulfurization applied effectively suppressed the diffusion and a chemical reaction between molybdenum and diamond. In particular, a Mo₂C layer does not form at the interface between the Mo film and diamond substrate. The combination of diamond high specific surface area along with a controllable layer orientation might be attractive for applications, such as water splitting or water disinfection.

Tuning the orientation of few-layer MoS2 films using one-zone sulfurization

Schematic representation of the GIWAXS measurements on HA and VA MoS₂ layers.