Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A universal etching-free transfer of MoS2 films for applications in photodetectors

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Nano Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Transferring MoS2 films from growth substrates onto target substrates is a critical issue for their practical applications. Moreover, it remains a great challenge to avoid sample degradation and substrate destruction, because the current transfer method inevitably employs a wet chemical etching process. We developed an etching-free transfer method for transferring MoS2 films onto arbitrary substrates by using ultrasonication. Briefly, the collapse of ultrasonication-generated microbubbles at the interface between polymer-coated MoS2 film and substrates induce sufficient force to delaminate the MoS2 films. Using this method, the MoS2 films can be transferred from all substrates (silica, mica, strontium titanate, and sapphire) and retains the original sample morphology and quality. This method guarantees a simple transfer process and allows the reuse of growth substrates, without involving any hazardous etchants. The etching-free transfer method is likely to promote broad applications of MoS2 in photodetectors.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Chhowalla, M.; Shin, H. S.; Eda, G.; Li, L. J.; Loh, K. P.; Zhang, H. The chemistry of two-dimensional layered transition metal dichalcogenide nanosheets. Nat. Chem. 2013, 5, 263–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Huang, X.; Zeng, Z. Y.; Zhang, H. Metal dichalcogenide nanosheets: Preparation, properties and applications. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2013, 42, 1934–1946.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Wang, Q. H.; Kalantar-Zadeh, K.; Kis, A.; Coleman, J. N.; Strano, M. S. Electronics and optoelectronics of twodimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2012, 7, 699–712.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Yin, X. B.; Ye, Z. L.; Chenet, D. A.; Ye, Y.; O’Brien, K.; Hone, J. C.; Zhang, X. Edge nonlinear optics on a MoS2 atomic monolayer. Science 2014, 344, 488–490.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Mak, K. F.; He, K. L.; Lee, C.; Lee, G. H.; Hone, J.; Heinz, T. F.; Shan, J. Tightly bound trions in monolayer MoS2. Nat. Mater. 2013, 12, 207–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Li, H.; Wu, J.; Yin, Z. Y.; Zhang, H. Preparation and applications of mechanically exfoliated single-layer and multilayer MoS2 and WSe2 nanosheets. Acc. Chem. Res. 2014, 47, 1067–1075.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Jin, W. C.; Yeh, P.-C.; Zaki, N.; Zhang, D. T.; Sadowski, J. T.; Al-Mahboob, A.; van der Zande, A. M.; Chenet, D. A.; Dadap, J. I.; Herman, I. P. et al. Direct measurement of the thickness-dependent electronic band structure of MoS2 using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2013, 111, 106801.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Eknapakul, T.; King, P. D. C.; Asakawa, M.; Buaphet, P.; He, R. H.; Mo, S. K.; Takagi, H.; Shen, K. M.; Baumberger, F.; Sasagawa, T. et al. Electronic structure of a quasi-freestanding MoS2 monolayer. Nano Lett. 2014, 14, 1312–1316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Britnell, L.; Ribeiro, R. M.; Eckmann, A.; Jalil, R.; Belle, B. D.; Mishchenko, A.; Kim, Y. J.; Gorbachev, R. V.; Georgiou, T.; Morozov, S. V. et al. Strong light-matter interactions in heterostructures of atomically thin films. Science 2013, 340, 1311–1314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Coehoorn, R.; Haas, C.; Dijkstra, J.; Flipse, C. J. F.; de Groot, R. A.; Wold, A. Electronic structure of MoSe2, MoS2, WSe2. I. Band-structure calculations and photoelectron spectroscopy. Phys. Rev. B 1987, 35, 6195–6202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Novoselov, K. S.; Geim, A. K.; Morozov, S. V.; Jiang, D.; Zhang, Y.; Dubonos, S. V.; Grigorieva, I. V.; Firsov, A. A. Electric field effect in atomically thin carbon films. Science 2004, 306, 666–669.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Novoselov, K. S.; Geim, A. K.; Morozov, S. V.; Jiang, D.; Katsnelson, M. I.; Grigorieva, I. V.; Dubonos, S. V.; Firsov, A. A. Two-dimensional gas of massless Dirac fermions in graphene. Nature 2005, 438, 197–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Radisavljevic, B.; Radenovic, A.; Brivio, J.; Giacometti, V.; Kis, A. Single-layer MoS2 transistors. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2011, 6, 147–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Fuhrer, M. S.; Hone, J. Measurement of mobility in dual-gated MoS2 transistors. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2013, 8, 146–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Wang, H.; Yu, L. L.; Lee, Y.-H.; Shi, Y. M.; Hsu, A.; Chin, M. L.; Li, L.-J.; Dubey, M.; Kong, J.; Palacios, T. Integrated circuits based on bilayer MoS2 transistors. Nano Lett. 2012, 12, 4674–4680.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Yin, Z. Y.; Li, H.; Li, H.; Jiang, L.; Shi, Y. M.; Sun, Y. H.; Lu, G.; Zhang, Q.; Chen, X. D.; Zhang, H. Single-layer MoS2 phototransistors. ACS Nano 2012, 6, 74–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. He, Q. Y.; Zeng, Z. Y.; Yin, Z. Y.; Li, H.; Wu, S. X.; Huang, X.; Zhang, H. Fabrication of flexible MoS2 thin-film transistor arrays for practical gas-sensing applications. Small 2012, 8, 2994–2999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Li, H.; Yin, Z. Y.; He, Q. Y.; Li, H.; Huang, X.; Lu, G.; Fam, D. W. H.; Tok, A. I. Y.; Zhang, Q.; Zhang, H. Fabrication of single- and multilayer MoS2 film-based field-effect transistors for sensing NO at room temperature. Small 2012, 8, 63–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Lopez-Sanchez, O.; Lembke, D.; Kayci, M.; Radenovic, A.; Kis, A. Ultrasensitive photodetectors based on monolayer MoS2. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2013, 8, 497–501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Roy, K.; Padmanabhan, M.; Goswami, S.; Sai, T. P.; Ramalingam, G.; Raghavan, S.; Ghosh, A. Graphene–MoS2 hybrid structures for multifunctional photoresponsive memory devices. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2013, 8, 826–830.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Bertolazzi, S.; Krasnozhon, D.; Kis, A. Nonvolatile memory cells based on MoS2/graphene heterostructures. ACS Nano 2013, 7, 3246–3252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Mak, K. F.; He, K. L.; Shan, J.; Heinz, T. F. Control of valley polarization in monolayer MoS2 by optical helicity. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2012, 7, 494–498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Mak, K. F.; McGill, K. L.; Park, J.; McEuen, P. L. The valley Hall effect in MoS2 transistors. Science 2014, 344, 1489–1492.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Zeng, H. L.; Dai, J. F.; Yao, W.; Xiao, D.; Cui, X. D. Valley polarization in MoS2 monolayers by optical pumping. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2012, 7, 490–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Wu, S. F.; Ross, J. S.; Liu, G.-B.; Aivazian, G.; Jones, A.; Fei, Z. Y.; Zhu, W. G.; Xiao, D.; Yao, W.; Cobden, D. et al. Electrical tuning of valley magnetic moment through symmetry control in bilayer MoS2. Nat. Phys. 2013, 9, 149–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Mak, K. F.; Lee, C.; Hone, J.; Shan, J.; Heinz, T. F. Atomically thin MoS2: A new direct-gap semiconductor. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2010, 105, 136805.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Coleman, J. N.; Lotya, M.; O’Neill, A.; Bergin, S. D.; King, P. J.; Khan, U.; Young, K.; Gaucher, A.; De, S.; Smith, R. J. et al. Two-dimensional nanosheets produced by liquid exfoliation of layered materials. Science 2011, 331, 568–571.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Zeng, Z. Y.; Yin, Z. Y.; Huang, X.; Li, H.; He, Q. Y.; Lu, G.; Boey, F.; Zhang, H. Single-layer semiconducting nanosheets: High-yield preparation and device fabrication. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 11093–11097.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Zeng, Z. Y.; Sun, T.; Zhu, J. X.; Huang, X.; Yin, Z. Y.; Lu, G.; Fan, Z. X.; Yan, Q. Y.; Hng, H. H.; Zhang, H. An effective method for the fabrication of few-layer-thick inorganic nanosheets. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 9052–9056.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Li, Y. G.; Wang, H. L.; Xie, L. M.; Liang, Y. Y.; Hong, G. S.; Dai, H. J. MoS2 nanoparticles grown on graphene: An advanced catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 7296–7299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Lee, Y.-H.; Yu, L. L.; Wang, H.; Fang, W. J.; Ling, X.; Shi, Y. M.; Lin, C.-T.; Huang, J.-K.; Chang, M.-T.; Chang, C.-S. et al. Synthesis and transfer of single-layer transition metal disulfides on diverse surfaces. Nano Lett. 2013, 13, 1852–1857.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Lee, Y. H.; Zhang, X. Q.; Zhang, W. J.; Chang, M. T.; Lin, C. T.; Chang, K. D.; Yu, Y. C.; Wang, J. T. W.; Chang, C. S.; Li, L. J. et al. Synthesis of large-area MoS2 atomic layers with chemical vapor deposition. Adv. Mater. 2012, 24, 2320–2325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Zhan, Y. J.; Liu, Z.; Najmaei, S.; Ajayan, P. M.; Lou, J. Large-area vapor-phase growth and characterization of MoS2 atomic layers on a SiO2 substrate. Small 2012, 8, 966–971.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Wang, X. S.; Feng, H. B.; Wu, Y. M.; Jiao, L. Y. Controlled synthesis of highly crystalline MoS2 flakes by chemical vapor deposition. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 5304–5307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Liu, K.-K.; Zhang, W.; Lee, Y.-H.; Lin, Y.-C.; Chang, M.-T.; Su, C.-Y.; Chang, C.-S.; Li, H.; Shi, Y.; Zhang, H. et al. Growth of large-area and highly crystalline MoS2 thin layers on insulating substrates. Nano Lett. 2012, 12, 1538–1544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Ling, X.; Lee, Y.-H.; Lin, Y. X.; Fang, W. J.; Yu, L. L.; Dresselhaus, M. S.; Kong, J. Role of the seeding promoter in MoS2 growth by chemical vapor deposition. Nano Lett. 2014, 14, 464–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Zhang, Y.; Ji, Q. Q.; Han, G. F.; Ju, J.; Shi, J. P.; Ma, D. L.; Sun, J. Y.; Zhang, Y. S.; Li, M. J.; Lang, X. Y. et al. Dendritic, transferable, strictly monolayer MoS2 flakes synthesized on SrTiO3 single crystals for efficient electrocatalytic applications. ACS Nano 2014, 8, 8617–8624.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Ji, Q. Q.; Zhang, Y. F.; Gao, T.; Zhang, Y.; Ma, D. L.; Liu, M. X.; Chen, Y. B.; Qiao, X. F.; Tan, P.-H.; Kan, M. et al. Epitaxial monolayer MoS2 on mica with novel photoluminescence. Nano Lett. 2013, 13, 3870–3877.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Yu, Y. F.; Li, C.; Liu, Y.; Su, L. Q.; Zhang, Y.; Cao, L. Y. Controlled scalable synthesis of uniform, high-quality monolayer and few-layer MoS2 films. Sci. Rep. 2013, 3, 1866.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Najmaei, S.; Liu, Z.; Zhou, W.; Zou, X. L.; Shi, G.; Lei, S. D.; Yakobson, B. I.; Idrobo, J.-C.; Ajayan, P. M.; Lou, J. Vapour phase growth and grain boundary structure of molybdenum disulphide atomic layers. Nat. Mater. 2013, 12, 754–759.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. van der Zande, A. M.; Huang, P. Y.; Chenet, D. A.; Berkelbach, T. C.; You, Y. M.; Lee, G.-H.; Heinz, T. F.; Reichman, D. R.; Muller, D. A.; Hone, J. C. Grains and grain boundaries in highly crystalline monolayer molybdenum disulphide. Nat. Mater. 2013, 12, 554–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Zhang, J.; Yu, H.; Chen, W.; Tian, X. Z.; Liu, D. H.; Cheng, M.; Xie, G. B.; Yang, W.; Yang, R.; Bai, X. D. et al. Scalable growth of high-quality polycrystalline MoS2 monolayers on SiO2 with tunable grain sizes. ACS Nano 2014, 8, 6024–6030.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Dumcenco, D.; Ovchinnikov, D.; Marinov, K.; Lazic, P.; Gibertini, M.; Marzari, N.; Sanchez, O. L.; Kung, Y.-C.; Krasnozhon, D.; Chen, M.-W. et al. Large-area epitaxial monolayer MoS2. ACS Nano 2015, 9, 4611–4620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Ji, Q. Q.; Kan, M.; Zhang, Y.; Guo, Y.; Ma, D. L.; Shi, J. P.; Sun, Q.; Chen, Q.; Zhang, Y. F.; Liu, Z. F. Unravelling orientation distribution and merging behavior of monolayer MoS2 domains on sapphire. Nano Lett. 2015, 15, 198–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Jiao, L. Y.; Fan, B.; Xian, X. J.; Wu, Z. Y.; Zhang, J.; Liu, Z. F. Creation of nanostructures with poly(methyl methacrylate)-mediated nanotransfer printing. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 12612–12613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Reina, A.; Jia, X.; Ho, J.; Nezich, D.; Son, H.; Bulovic, V.; Dresselhaus, M. S.; Kong, J. Large area, few-layer graphene films on arbitrary substrates by chemical vapor deposition. Nano Lett. 2009, 9, 30–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Bae, S.; Kim, H.; Lee, Y.; Xu, X. F.; Park, J.-S.; Zheng, Y.; Balakrishnan, J.; Lei, T.; Kim, H. R.; Song, Y. I. et al. Rollto- roll production of 30-inch graphene films for transparent electrodes. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2010, 5, 574–578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Gao, L. B.; Ni, G.-X.; Liu, Y. P.; Liu, B.; Castro Neto, A. H.; Loh, K. P. Face-to-face transfer of wafer-scale graphene films. Nature 2014, 505, 190–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Li, H.; Wu, J.; Huang, X.; Yin, Z. Y.; Liu, J. Q.; Zhang, H. A universal, rapid method for clean transfer of nanostructures onto various substrates. ACS Nano 2014, 8, 6563–6570.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Gurarslan, A.; Yu, Y. F.; Su, L. Q.; Yu, Y. L.; Suarez, F.; Yao, S. S.; Zhu, Y.; Öztürk, M.; Zhang, Y.; Cao, L. Y. Surface energy-assisted perfect transfer of centimeter-scale monolayer and fewlayer MoS2 films onto arbitrary substrates. ACS Nano 2014, 8, 11522–11528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Feng, Q. L.; Zhu, Y. M.; Hong, J. H.; Zhang, M.; Duan, W. J.; Mao, N. N.; Wu, J. X.; Xu, H.; Dong, F. L.; Lin, F. et al. Growth of large-area 2D MoS2(1–x)Se2x semiconductor alloys. Adv. Mater. 2014, 26, 2648–2653.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Lee, C.; Yan, H. G.; Brus, L. E.; Heinz, T. F.; Hone, J.; Ryu, S. Anomalous lattice vibrations of single- and few-layer MoS2. ACS Nano 2010, 4, 2695–2700.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Zhang, Y.; Zhang, Y. F.; Ji, Q. Q.; Ju, J.; Yuan, H. T.; Shi, J. P.; Gao, T.; Ma, D. L.; Liu, M. X.; Chen, Y. B. et al. Controlled growth of high-quality monolayer WS2 layers on sapphire and imaging its grain boundary. ACS Nano 2013, 7, 8963–8971.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Hsu, W.-T.; Zhao, Z.-A.; Li, L.-J.; Chen, C.-H.; Chiu, M.-H.; Chang, P.-S.; Chou, Y.-C.; Chang, W.-H. Second harmonic generation from artificially stacked transition metal dichalcogenide twisted bilayers. ACS Nano 2014, 8, 2951–2958.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Liu, C.-H.; Chang, Y.-C.; Norris, T. B.; Zhong, Z. H. Graphene photodetectors with ultra-broadband and high responsivity at room temperature. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2014, 9, 273–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Donglin Ma, Jianping Shi, Qingqing Ji, Ke Chen, Jianbo Yin, Yuanwei Lin, Yu Zhang, Mengxi Liu, Qingliang Feng, Xiuju Song, Xuefeng Guo, Jin Zhang, Yanfeng Zhang & Zhongfan Liu

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Jianping Shi, Yu Zhang & Yanfeng Zhang

Authors
  1. Donglin Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jianping Shi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Qingqing Ji
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ke Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jianbo Yin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Yuanwei Lin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Yu Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Mengxi Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Qingliang Feng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Xiuju Song
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Xuefeng Guo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Jin Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Yanfeng Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Zhongfan Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yanfeng Zhang or Zhongfan Liu.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ma, D., Shi, J., Ji, Q. et al. A universal etching-free transfer of MoS2 films for applications in photodetectors. Nano Res. 8, 3662–3672 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0866-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0866-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation