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Nano Research 2013, 6(10): 703-711 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-013-0346-2
Research Article | Issue | Published: 18 July 2013

Thickness-dependent patterning of MoS2 sheets with well-oriented triangular pits by heating in air

Show Author's Information Haiqing Zhou1,2,  Fang Yu5,  Yuanyue Liu3,4,  Xiaolong Zou3,4,  Chunxiao Cong1,  Caiyu Qiu1,  Ting Yu1( ),  Zheng Yan2,  Xiaonan Shen1,  Lianfeng Sun5,  Boris I Yakobson2,3,4( ),  James.M Tour2,3,4( )
Division of Physics and Applied PhysicsSchool of Physical and Mathematical SciencesNanyang Technological University637371Singapore, Singapore
Department of ChemistryRice University6100 Main StreetHoustonTexas77005USA
The Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and TechnologyRice University6100 Main StreetHoustonTexas77005USA
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials ScienceRice University6100 Main StreetHoustonTexas77005USA
National Center for Nanoscience and TechnologyBeijing100190China
Keywords:
thickness-dependent, oxidative etching, layered MoS2, triangular pits
Cite this article:
Zhou H, Yu F, Liu Y, et al. Thickness-dependent patterning of MoS2 sheets with well-oriented triangular pits by heating in air. Nano Research, 2013, 6(10): 703-711. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-013-0346-2
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Patterning ultrathin MoS2 layers with regular edges or controllable shapes is appealing since the properties of MoS2 sheets are sensitive to the edge structures. In this work, we have introduced a simple, effective and well-controlled technique to etch layered MoS2 sheets with well-oriented equilateral triangular pits by simply heating the samples in air. The anisotropic oxidative etching is greatly affected by the surrounding temperature and the number of MoS2 layers, whereby the pit sizes increase with the increase of surrounding temperature and the number of MoS2 layers. First-principles computations have been performed to explain the formation mechanism of the triangular pits. This technique offers an alternative avenue to engineering the structure of MoS2 sheets.


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About this article

Thickness-dependent patterning of MoS2 sheets with well-oriented triangular pits by heating in air

Show Author's information Haiqing Zhou1,2, Fang Yu5, Yuanyue Liu3,4, Xiaolong Zou3,4, Chunxiao Cong1, Caiyu Qiu1, Ting Yu1( ), Zheng Yan2, Xiaonan Shen1, Lianfeng Sun5, Boris I Yakobson2,3,4( ), James.M Tour2,3,4( )
Division of Physics and Applied PhysicsSchool of Physical and Mathematical SciencesNanyang Technological University637371Singapore, Singapore
Department of ChemistryRice University6100 Main StreetHoustonTexas77005USA
The Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and TechnologyRice University6100 Main StreetHoustonTexas77005USA
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials ScienceRice University6100 Main StreetHoustonTexas77005USA
National Center for Nanoscience and TechnologyBeijing100190China

Abstract

Patterning ultrathin MoS2 layers with regular edges or controllable shapes is appealing since the properties of MoS2 sheets are sensitive to the edge structures. In this work, we have introduced a simple, effective and well-controlled technique to etch layered MoS2 sheets with well-oriented equilateral triangular pits by simply heating the samples in air. The anisotropic oxidative etching is greatly affected by the surrounding temperature and the number of MoS2 layers, whereby the pit sizes increase with the increase of surrounding temperature and the number of MoS2 layers. First-principles computations have been performed to explain the formation mechanism of the triangular pits. This technique offers an alternative avenue to engineering the structure of MoS2 sheets.

Keywords: thickness-dependent, oxidative etching, layered MoS2, triangular pits

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 31 May 2013
Revised: 27 June 2013
Accepted: 30 June 2013
Published: 18 July 2013
Issue date: October 2013

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This project was supported by the Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF) under NRF Research Foundation (RF) Award No. NRF-RF2010-07, National Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10774032 and 90921001), the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) (No. FA9550-12-1-0035), the U. S. Army Research MURI (No. W911NF-11-1-0362) and the AFOSR (No. FA9550-09-1-0581).

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