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Nano Research 2016, 9(2): 380-391 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0918-4
Research Article | Issue | Published: 24 November 2015

A progressive route for tailoring electrical transport in MoS2

Show Author's Information Muhammad Arslan Shehzad1,2,  Sajjad Hussain1,2,  Muhammad Farooq Khan1,3,  Jonghwa Eom1,3,  Jongwan Jung1,2,  Yongho Seo1,2( )
Graphene Research InstituteSejong UniversitySeoul143-747Republic of Korea
Faculty of Nanotechnology & Advanced Materials Engineering and Graphene Research InstituteSejong UniversitySeoul143-747Republic of Korea
Department of Physics and Graphene Research InstituteSejong UniversitySeoul143-747Republic of Korea
Keywords:
MoS2, electrical properties, grain boundary, liquid crystal, photoresponse
Cite this article:
Shehzad MA, Hussain S, Khan MF, et al. A progressive route for tailoring electrical transport in MoS2. Nano Research, 2016, 9(2): 380-391. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0918-4
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Typically, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is polycrystalline; as a result, the scattering of charge carriers at grain boundaries can lead to performances lower than those observed in exfoliated single-crystal MoS2. Until now, the electrical properties of grain boundaries have been indirectly studied without accurate knowledge of their location. Here, we present a technique to measure the electrical behavior of individual grain boundaries in CVD-grown MoS2, imaged with the help of aligned liquid crystals. Unexpectedly, the electrical conductance decreased by three orders of magnitude for the grain boundaries with the lowest on/off ratio. Our study provides a useful technique to fabricate devices on a single-crystal area, using optimized growth conditions and device geometry. The photoresponse, studied within a MoS2 single grain, showed that the device responsivity was comparable with that of the exfoliated MoS2-based photodetectors.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

A progressive route for tailoring electrical transport in MoS2

Show Author's information Muhammad Arslan Shehzad1,2, Sajjad Hussain1,2, Muhammad Farooq Khan1,3, Jonghwa Eom1,3, Jongwan Jung1,2, Yongho Seo1,2( )
Graphene Research InstituteSejong UniversitySeoul143-747Republic of Korea
Faculty of Nanotechnology & Advanced Materials Engineering and Graphene Research InstituteSejong UniversitySeoul143-747Republic of Korea
Department of Physics and Graphene Research InstituteSejong UniversitySeoul143-747Republic of Korea

Abstract

Typically, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is polycrystalline; as a result, the scattering of charge carriers at grain boundaries can lead to performances lower than those observed in exfoliated single-crystal MoS2. Until now, the electrical properties of grain boundaries have been indirectly studied without accurate knowledge of their location. Here, we present a technique to measure the electrical behavior of individual grain boundaries in CVD-grown MoS2, imaged with the help of aligned liquid crystals. Unexpectedly, the electrical conductance decreased by three orders of magnitude for the grain boundaries with the lowest on/off ratio. Our study provides a useful technique to fabricate devices on a single-crystal area, using optimized growth conditions and device geometry. The photoresponse, studied within a MoS2 single grain, showed that the device responsivity was comparable with that of the exfoliated MoS2-based photodetectors.

Keywords: MoS2, electrical properties, grain boundary, liquid crystal, photoresponse

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 24 August 2015
Revised: 28 September 2015
Accepted: 29 September 2015
Published: 24 November 2015
Issue date: February 2016

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the NRF funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (No. 2013R1A1A1A05005298) and the Priority Research Centers Program (No. 2010-0020207) by the Ministry of Education. Also, this work was supported by the Human Resources Development of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant funded by the Korea government Ministry of Trade, industry & Energy (No. 20154030200630).

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