PtS2 is a newly developed group 10 2D layered material with high carrier mobility, wide band gap tunability, strongly bound excitons, symmetrical metallic and magnetic edge states, and ambient stability, making it attractive in nanoelectronic, optoelectronic, and spintronic fields. To the aim of application, a large-scale synthesis is necessary. For transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) compounds, a thermally assisted conversion method has been widely used to fabricate wafer-scale thin films. However, PtS2 cannot be easily synthesized using the method, as the tetragonal PtS phase is more stable. Here, we use a specified quartz part to locally increase the vapor pressure of sulfur in a chemical vapor deposition furnace and successfully extend this method for the synthesis of PtS2 thin films in a scalable and controllable manner. Moreover, the PtS and PtS2 phases can be interchangeably converted through a proposed strategy. Field-effect transistor characterization and photocurrent measurements suggest that PtS2 is an ambipolar semiconductor with a narrow band gap. Moreover, PtS2 also shows excellent gas-sensing performance with a detection limit of ∼0.4 ppb for NO2. Our work presents a relatively simple way of synthesizing PtS2 thin films and demonstrates their promise for high-performance ultrasensitive gas sensing, broadband optoelectronics, and nanoelectronics in a scalable manner. Furthermore, the proposed strategy is applicable for making other PtX2 compounds and TMDs which are compatible with modern silicon technologies.
Keywords: 2D materials; ambipolar semiconductor; gas sensing; photoelectronic; platinum disulfide.