Chemical treatment using bis(trifluoromethane) sulfonimide (TFSI) was shown to be particularly effective for increasing the photoluminescence (PL) of monolayer (1L) MoS2, suggesting a convenient method for overcoming the intrinsically low quantum yield of this material. However, the underlying atomic mechanism of the PL enhancement has remained elusive. Here, we report the microscopic origin of the defect healing observed in TFSI-treated 1L-MoS2 through a correlative combination of optical characterization and atomic-scale scanning transmission electron microscopy, which showed that most of the sulfur vacancies were directly repaired by the extrinsic sulfur atoms produced from the dissociation of TFSI, concurrently resulting in a significant PL enhancement. Density functional theory calculations confirmed that the reactive sulfur dioxide molecules that dissociated from TFSI can be reduced to sulfur and oxygen gas at the vacancy site to form strongly bound S-Mo. Our results reveal how defect-mediated nonradiative recombination can be effectively eliminated by a simple chemical treatment method, thereby advancing the practical applications of monolayer semiconductors.
Keywords: Molybdenum disulfide; chemical treatment; defect healing; excitons; sulfur vacancies; tungsten disulfide.