Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring the photoelectric properties of 2D MoS2 thin films grown by CVD

  • Article
  • FOCUS ISSUE: Structure-Property Relationships in Emerging Two-dimensional Materials
  • Published:
Journal of Materials Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Two-dimensional MoS2 with a layered structure has excellent optoelectronic properties in theory, but MoS2 films prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method are still underexplored in optoelectronic applications. Hence, different layers of MoS2 films were prepared on sapphire substrate by CVD in this article. After structural characterization, the optoelectronic properties of MoS2 films with different number of layers under specific wavelength laser irradiation (365 nm, 532 nm, 650 nm) were explored, and the improvement of properties after annealing. The experimental results manifested that the multilayer MoS2 film had the highest sensitivity (0.589 mA/W), and the monolayer MoS2 film had the highest on/off ratio (34.68) to violet light. Furthermore, the annealed monolayer MoS2 had the shortest response and recovery time of only 3 s. The results demonstrated the great potential of two-dimensional MoS2 films in the field of photodetection and contributed to the development of a new generation of optoelectronic devices.

Graphical abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

References

  1. O. Lopez-Sanchez, D. Lembke, M. Kayci, A. Radenovic, A. Kis, Ultrasensitive photodetectors based on monolayer MoS2. Nat. Nanotechnol. 8(7), 497 (2013)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. K. Roy, M. Padmanabhan, S. Goswami, T.P. Sai, G. Ramalingam, S. Raghavan, A. Ghosh, Graphene–MoS2 hybrid structures for multifunctional photoresponsive memory devices. Nat. Nanotechnol. 8(11), 826 (2013)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. J. Pu, Y. Yomogida, K.K. Liu, L.-J. Li, Y. Iwasa, T. Takenobu, Highly flexible MoS2 thin-film transistors with ion gel dielectrics. Nano Lett. 12(8), 4013 (2012)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. J.-H. Chen, Z.-H. Liang, L.-R. Yuan, C. Li, M.-R. Chen, Y.-D. Xia, X.-J. Zhang, F. Xu, Y.-Q. Lu, Towards an all-in fiber photodetector by directly bonding few-layer molybdenum disulfide to a fiber facet. Nanoscale 9(10), 3424 (2017)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. F.H.L. Koppens, T. Mueller, P. Avouris, A.C. Ferrari, M.S. Vitiello, M. Polini, Photodetectors based on graphene, other two-dimensional materials and hybrid systems. Nat. Nanotechnol. 9(10), 780 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. T. Le Quang, V. Cherkez, K. Nogajewski, M. Potemski, M.T. Dau, M. Jamet, P. Mallet, J.Y. Veuillen, Scanning tunneling spectroscopy of van der Waals graphene/semiconductor interfaces: absence of Fermi level pinning. 2d Mater. 4(3), 035019 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. J.-D. Lu, Y.-B. Li, H.-Y. Liu, S.-J. Peng, F.-X. Zhao, Transport properties in a monolayer graphene modulated by the realistic magnetic field and the Schottky metal stripe. Physica E 83, 345 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. M. Huang, M. Wang, C. Chen, Z. Ma, X. Li, J. Han, Y. Wu, Broadband black-phosphorus photodetectors with high responsivity. Adv. Mater. 28(18), 3481 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. M. Buscema, J.O. Island, D.J. Groenendijk, S.I. Blanter, G.A. Steele, H.S.J. van der Zant, A. Castellanos-Gomez, Photocurrent generation with two-dimensional van der Waals semiconductors. Chem. Soc. Rev. 44(11), 3691 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. M. Xu, T. Liang, M. Shi, H. Chen, Graphene-like two-dimensional materials. Chem. Rev. 113(5), 3766 (2013)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Y. Zhang, T.-T. Tang, C. Girit, Z. Hao, M.C. Martin, A. Zettl, M.F. Crommie, Y.R. Shen, F. Wang, Direct observation of a widely tunable bandgap in bilayer graphene. Nature 459(7248), 820 (2009)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. L. Wang, A. Kutana, B.I. Yakobson, Many-body and spin-orbit effects on direct-indirect band gap transition of strained monolayer MoS2and WS2. Ann. Phys. 526(9–10), L7 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Z.Y. Zhang, M.S. Si, Y.H. Wang, X.P. Gao, D. Sung, S. Hong, J. He, Indirect-direct band gap transition through electric tuning in bilayer MoS2. J. Chem. Phys. 140(17), 174707 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. R.F. Frindt, Single crystals of MoS2 several molecular layers thick. J. Appl. Phys. 37(4), 1928 (1966)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Y. Pang, L. Kong, D. Chen, G. Yuvaraja, Rapid Cr(VI) reduction in aqueous solution using a novel microwave-based treatment with MoS2-MnFe2O4 composite. Appl. Surf. Sci. 471, 408 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. R. Kappera, D. Voiry, S.E. Yalcin, W. Jen, M. Acerce, S. Torrel, B. Branch, S. Lei, W. Chen, S. Najmaei, J. Lou, P.M. Ajayan, G. Gupta, A.D. Mohite, M. Chhowalla, Metallic 1T phase source/drain electrodes for field effect transistors from chemical vapor deposited MoS2. APL Mater. 2(9), 092516 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. B. Radisavljevic, A. Radenovic, J. Brivio, V. Giacometti, A. Kis, Single-layer MoS2 transistors. Nat. Nanotechnol. 6(3), 147 (2011)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. C. Ataca, H. Sahin, S. Ciraci, Single-layer MX2 transition-metal oxides and dichalcogenides in a honeycomb-like structure. J. Phys. Chem. C 116(16), 8983 (2012)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. L.W. Xiong, K. Wang, D. Li, X.G. Luo, J. Weng, Z.T. Liu, H. Zhang, Research progress on the preparations, characterizations and applications of large scale 2D transition metal dichalcogenides films. FlatChem 21, 100161 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Q.H. Wang, K. Kalantar-Zadeh, A. Kis, J.N. Coleman, M.S. Strano, Electronics and optoelectronics of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. Nat. Nanotechnol. 7(11), 699 (2012)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. A. Kuc, N. Zibouche, T. Heine, Influence of quantum confinement on the electronic structure of the transition metal sulfideTS2. Phys. Rev. B 83(24), 245213 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Y. Yu, Y. Yu, L.J. Huang, H.W. Peng, L.W. Xiong, L.Y. Cao, Giant gating tunability of optical refractive index in transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers. Nano Lett. 17(6), 3613 (2017)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Z. Yin, H. Li, H. Li, L. Jiang, Y. Shi, Y. Sun, G. Lu, Q. Zhang, X. Chen, H. Zhang, Single-layer MoS2 phototransistors. ACS Nano 6(1), 74 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Y. Saito, Y. Nakamura, M.S. Bahramy, Y. Kohama, J. Ye, Y. Kasahara, Y. Nakagawa, M. Onga, M. Tokunaga, T. Nojima, Y. Yanase, Y. Iwasa, Superconductivity protected by spin–valley locking in ion-gated MoS2. Nat. Phys. 12(2), 144 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. M. Bernardi, M. Palummo, J.C. Grossman, Extraordinary sunlight absorption and one nanometer thick photovoltaics using two-dimensional monolayer materials. Nano Lett. 13, 3664 (2013)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. H. Park, N. Liu, B.H. Kim, S.H. Kwon, S. Baek, S. Kim, H.K. Lee, Y.J. Yoon, S. Kim, Exceptionally uniform and scalable multilayer MoS2 phototransistor array based on large-scale MoS2 grown by RF sputtering, electron beam irradiation, and sulfurization. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 12, 20645 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. H.S. Lee, S.-W. Min, Y.-G. Chang, M.K. Park, T. Nam, H. Kim, J.H. Kim, S. Ryu, S. Im, MoS2 nanosheet phototransistors with thickness-modulated optical energy gap. Nano Lett. 12(7), 3695 (2012)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. M.F. Khan, M.W. Iqbal, M.Z. Iqbal, M.A. Shehzad, Y. Seo, J. Eom, Photocurrent response of MoS2 field-effect transistor by deep ultraviolet light in atmospheric and N2 gas environments. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 23, 21645 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. S.-S. Chee, J.-H. Lee, K. Lee, M.-H. Ham, Defect-assisted contact property enhancement in a molybdenum disulfide monolayer. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 3, 4129 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Y. Liu, J. Guo, E. Zhu, L. Liao, S.-J. Lee, M. Ding, I. Shakir, V. Gambin, Y. Huang, X. Duan, Approaching the Schottky-Mott limit in van der Waals metal–semiconductor junctions. Nature 557(7707), 696 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Y. Wang, J.C. Kim, R.J. Wu, J. Martinez, X. Song, J. Yang, F. Zhao, A. Mkhoyan, H.Y. Jeong, M. Chhowalla, Van der Waals contacts between three-dimensional metals and two-dimensional semiconductors. Nature 568(7750), 70 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. S. Najmaei, Z. Liu, P.M. Ajayan, J. Lou, Thermal effects on the characteristic Raman spectrum of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) of varying thicknesses. Appl. Phys. Lett. 100(1), 013106 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Y. Wei, V.-T. Tran, C. Zhao, H. Liu, J. Kong, H. Du, Robust photodetectable paper from chemically exfoliated MoS2–MoO3 multilayers. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 11(24), 21445 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. X. Li, J.T. Mullen, Z. Jin, K.M. Borysenko, M.B. Nardelli, K.W. Kim, Intrinsic electrical transport properties of monolayer silicene and MoS2 from first principles. Phys. Rev. B 87(11), 115418 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. W. Zhou, X. Zou, S. Najmaei, Z. Liu, Y. Shi, J. Kong, J. Lou, P.M. Ajayan, B.I. Yakobson, J.-C. Idrobo, Intrinsic structural defects in monolayer molybdenum disulfide. Nano Lett. 13(6), 2615 (2013)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. J. Hong, Z. Hu, M. Probert, K. Li, D. Lv, X. Yang, L. Gu, N. Mao, Q. Feng, L. Xie, J. Zhang, D. Wu, Z. Zhang, C. Jin, W. Ji, X. Zhang, J. Yuan, Z. Zhang, Exploring atomic defects in molybdenum disulphide monolayers. Nat. Commun. 6(1), 6293 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Y. Yu, C. Li, Y. Liu, L. Su, Y. Zhang, L. Cao, Controlled scalable synthesis of uniform, high-quality monolayer and few-layer MoS2 films. Sci. Rep. 3(1), 1866 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Y. Zeng, W. Chen, B. Tang, J. Liao, J. Lou, Q. Chen, Synergetic photoluminescence enhancement of monolayer MoS2 via surface plasmon resonance and defect repair. RSC Adv. 8(42), 23591 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. S. Mouri, Y. Miyauchi, K. Matsuda, Tunable photoluminescence of monolayer MoS2 via chemical doping. Nano Lett. 13(12), 5944 (2013)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. K. Si, J. Ma, Y. Guo, Y. Zhou, C. Lu, X. Xu, X. Xu, Improving photoelectric performance of MoS2 photoelectrodes by annealing. Ceram. Int. 44(17), 21153 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. S. Wang, Y. Xu, Y. Liu, Fluorescence enhancement of monolayer molybdenum disulfide based on sulfur vapor transfer. Acta Opt. Sin. 49(3), 0316002 (2020). (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  42. H.M. Oh, G.H. Han, H. Kim, J.J. Bae, M.S. Jeong, Y.H. Lee, Photochemical reaction in monolayer MoS2 via correlated photoluminescence, Raman spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. ACS Nano 10(5), 5230 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. S. Tongay, J. Zhou, C. Ataca, J. Liu, J.S. Kang, T.S. Matthews, L. You, J. Li, J.C. Grossman, J. Wu, Broad-range modulation of light emission in two-dimensional semiconductors by molecular physisorption gating. Nano Lett. 13(6), 2831 (2013)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. J. Choi, H. Zhang, J.H. Choi, Modulating optoelectronic properties of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductors by photoinduced charge transfer. ACS Nano 10(1), 1671 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Y. Han, Y. Ma, Y. Liu, S. Xu, X. Chen, M. Zeng, N. Hu, Y. Su, Z. Zhou, Z. Yang, Construction of MoS2/SnO2 heterostructures for sensitive NO2 detection at room temperature. Appl. Surf. Sci. 493, 613 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. S. Wang, J.K. Huang, M. Li, A. Azam, X. Zu, L. Qiao, J. Yang, S. Li, Growth of high-quality monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide nanocrystals by chemical vapor deposition and their photoluminescence and electrocatalytic properties. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 13(40), 47962 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. S. Wang, N. Yang, M. Li, J. Zhang, A. Azam, Y. Yao, X. Zu, L. Qiao, P. Reece, J. Stride, J. Yang, S. Li, Insight into the growth behaviors of MoS2 nanograins influenced by step edges and atomic structure of the substrate. Nano Res. 15(8), 7646–7654 (2022)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51402220), Key Project of Hubei Education Department (D20191503), and Wuhan Institute of Technology Science Foundation (K201801). C.G. Wu appreciated the support from Graduate Education Innovation Fund provided by Wuhan Institute of Technology (CX2021173).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hubei Key Laboratory of Plasma Chemistry and Advanced Materials, Key Laboratory of Novel Biomass-Based Environmental and Energy Materials in Petroleum and Chemical Industry, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, 430205, China

    Chaoguo Wu, Sicheng Luo, Xiaogang Luo, Jun Weng, Chunyan Shang, Zhitian Liu, Hongyang Zhao & Liwei Xiong

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China

    Xiaogang Luo

  3. Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Chester Street, Manchester, M1 5GD, UK

    David Sawtell

Authors
  1. Chaoguo Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sicheng Luo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xiaogang Luo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jun Weng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Chunyan Shang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Zhitian Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Hongyang Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. David Sawtell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Liwei Xiong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Liwei Xiong.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wu, C., Luo, S., Luo, X. et al. Exploring the photoelectric properties of 2D MoS2 thin films grown by CVD. Journal of Materials Research 37, 3470–3480 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43578-022-00720-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/s43578-022-00720-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation