Exploring atomic defects in molybdenum disulphide monolayers

Jinhua Hong; Zhixin Hu; Matt Probert; Kun Li; Danhui Lv; Xinan Yang; Lin Gu; Nannan Mao; Qingliang Feng; Liming Xie; Jin Zhang; Dianzhong Wu; Zhiyong Zhang; Chuanhong Jin; Wei Ji; Xixiang Zhang; Jun Yuan; Ze Zhang

doi:10.1038/ncomms7293

Exploring atomic defects in molybdenum disulphide monolayers

Nat Commun. 2015 Feb 19:6:6293. doi: 10.1038/ncomms7293.

Authors

Jinhua Hong¹, Zhixin Hu², Matt Probert³, Kun Li⁴, Danhui Lv¹, Xinan Yang⁵, Lin Gu⁵, Nannan Mao⁶, Qingliang Feng⁷, Liming Xie⁷, Jin Zhang⁸, Dianzhong Wu⁹, Zhiyong Zhang⁹, Chuanhong Jin¹, Wei Ji¹⁰, Xixiang Zhang⁴, Jun Yuan¹¹, Ze Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Applications for Batteries of Zhejiang Province, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310027, China.
² Beijing Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Functional Materials and Micro-Nano Devices, Department of Physics, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China.
³ Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK.
⁴ Advanced Nanofabrication, Imaging and Characterization Core Lab, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 239955, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Instituteof Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, c/o Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100190, China.
⁶ 1] CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China [2] Center for Nanochemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
⁷ CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China.
⁸ Center for Nanochemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
⁹ Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices and Department of Electronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
¹⁰ 1] Beijing Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Functional Materials and Micro-Nano Devices, Department of Physics, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China [2] Department of Physics and Astronomy, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
¹¹ 1] State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Applications for Batteries of Zhejiang Province, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310027, China [2] Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK.

Abstract

Defects usually play an important role in tailoring various properties of two-dimensional materials. Defects in two-dimensional monolayer molybdenum disulphide may be responsible for large variation of electric and optical properties. Here we present a comprehensive joint experiment-theory investigation of point defects in monolayer molybdenum disulphide prepared by mechanical exfoliation, physical and chemical vapour deposition. Defect species are systematically identified and their concentrations determined by aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, and also studied by ab-initio calculation. Defect density up to 3.5 × 10(13) cm(-2) is found and the dominant category of defects changes from sulphur vacancy in mechanical exfoliation and chemical vapour deposition samples to molybdenum antisite in physical vapour deposition samples. Influence of defects on electronic structure and charge-carrier mobility are predicted by calculation and observed by electric transport measurement. In light of these results, the growth of ultra-high-quality monolayer molybdenum disulphide appears a primary task for the community pursuing high-performance electronic devices.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't