Jinsu Pak

Electrical and Optical Characterization of MoS2 with Sulfur Vacancy Passivation by Treatment with Alkanethiol Molecules.

We investigated the physical properties of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) atomic crystals with a sulfur vacancy passivation after treatment with alkanethiol molecules including their electrical, Raman, and photoluminescence (PL) characteristics. MoS2, one of the transition metal dichalcogenide materials, is a promising two-dimensional semiconductor material with good physical properties. It is known that sulfur vacancies exist in MoS2, resulting in the n-type behavior of MoS2. The sulfur vacancies on the MoS2 surface tend to form covalent bonds with sulfur-containing groups. In this study, we deposited alkanethiol molecules on MoS2 field effect transistors (FETs) and then characterized the electrical properties of the devices before and after the alkanethiol treatment. We observed that the electrical characteristics of MoS2 FETs dramatically changed after the alkanethiol treatment. We also observed that the Raman and PL spectra of MoS2 films changed after the alkanethiol treatment. These effects are attributed to the thiol (-SH) end groups in alkanethiols bonding at sulfur vacancy sites, thus altering the physical properties of the MoS2. This study will help us better understand the electrical and optical properties of MoS2 and suggest a way of tailoring the properties of MoS2 by passivating a sulfur vacancy with thiol molecules.

Enhancement of photodetection characteristics of MoS2 field effect transistors using surface treatment with copper phthalocyanine

Recently, two-dimensional materials such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) have been extensively studied as channel materials for field effect transistors (FETs) because MoS2 has outstanding electrical properties such as a low subthreshold swing value, a high on/off ratio, and good carrier mobility. In this study, we characterized the electrical and photo-responsive properties of MoS2 FET when stacking a p-type organic copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) layer on the MoS2 surface. We observed that the threshold voltage of MoS2 FET could be controlled by stacking the CuPc layers due to a charge transfer phenomenon at the interface. Particularly, we demonstrated that CuPc/MoS2 hybrid devices exhibited high performance as a photodetector compared with the pristine MoS2 FETs, caused by more electron-hole pairs separation at the p-n interface. Furthermore, we found the optimized CuPc thickness (∼2 nm) on the MoS2 surface for the best performance as a photodetector with a photoresponsivity of ∼1.98 A W(-1), a detectivity of ∼6.11 × 10(10) Jones, and an external quantum efficiency of ∼12.57%. Our study suggests that the MoS2 vertical hybrid structure with organic material can be promising as efficient photodetecting devices and optoelectronic circuits.

Trap-mediated electronic transport properties of gate-tunable pentacene/MoS2 p-n heterojunction diodes

We investigated the trap-mediated electronic transport properties of pentacene/molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) p-n heterojunction devices. We observed that the hybrid p-n heterojunctions were gate-tunable and were strongly affected by trap-assisted tunnelling through the van der Waals gap at the heterojunction interfaces between MoS2 and pentacene. The pentacene/MoS2 p-n heterojunction diodes had gate-tunable high ideality factor, which resulted from trap-mediated conduction nature of devices. From the temperature-variable current-voltage measurement, a space-charge-limited conduction and a variable range hopping conduction at a low temperature were suggested as the gate-tunable charge transport characteristics of these hybrid p-n heterojunctions. Our study provides a better understanding of the trap-mediated electronic transport properties in organic/2-dimensional material hybrid heterojunction devices.

Analysis of the interface characteristics of CVD-grown monolayer MoS2 by noise measurements

We investigated the current-voltage and noise characteristics of two-dimensional (2D) monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). A large number of trap states were produced during the CVD process of synthesizing MoS2, resulting in a disordered monolayer MoS2 system. The interface trap density between CVD-grown MoS2 and silicon dioxide was extracted from the McWhorter surface noise model. Notably, generation-recombination noise which is attributed to charge trap states was observed at the low carrier density regime. The relation between the temperature and resistance following the power law of a 2D inverted-random void model supports the idea that disordered CVD-grown monolayer MoS2 can be analyzed using a percolation theory. This study can offer a viewpoint to interpret synthesized low-dimensional materials as highly disordered systems.

Transparent Large-Area MoS2 Phototransistors with Inkjet-Printed Components on Flexible Platforms

Two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have gained considerable attention as an emerging semiconductor due to their promising atomically thin film characteristics with good field-effect mobility and a tunable band gap energy. However, their electronic applications have been generally realized with conventional inorganic electrodes and dielectrics implemented using conventional photolithography or transferring processes that are not compatible with large-area and flexible device applications. To facilitate the advantages of 2D TMDCs in practical applications, strategies for realizing flexible and transparent 2D electronics using low-temperature, large-area, and low-cost processes should be developed. Motivated by this challenge, we report fully printed transparent chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-synthesized monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) phototransistor arrays on flexible polymer substrates. All the electronic components, including dielectric and electrodes, were directly deposited with mechanically tolerable organic materials by inkjet-printing technology onto transferred monolayer MoS2, and their annealing temperature of <180 °C allows the direct fabrication on commercial flexible substrates without additional assisted-structures. By integrating the soft organic components with ultrathin MoS2, the fully printed MoS2 phototransistors exhibit excellent transparency and mechanically stable operation.

Contact‐Engineered Electrical Properties of MoS2 Field‐Effect Transistors via Selectively Deposited Thiol‐Molecules

Although 2D molybdenum disulfide (MoS2 ) has gained much attention due to its unique electrical and optical properties, the limited electrical contact to 2D semiconductors still impedes the realization of high-performance 2D MoS2 -based devices. In this regard, many studies have been conducted to improve the carrier-injection properties by inserting functional paths, such as graphene or hexagonal boron nitride, between the electrodes and 2D semiconductors. The reported strategies, however, require relatively time-consuming and low-yield transfer processes on sub-micrometer MoS2 flakes. Here, a simple contact-engineering method is suggested, introducing chemically adsorbed thiol-molecules as thin tunneling barriers between the metal electrodes and MoS2 channels. The selectively deposited thiol-molecules via the vapor-deposition process provide additional tunneling paths at the contact regions, improving the carrier-injection properties with lower activation energies in MoS2 field-effect transistors. Additionally, by inserting thiol-molecules at the only one contact region, asymmetric carrier-injection is feasible depending on the temperature and gate bias.

Analysis of noise generation and electric conduction at grain boundaries in CVD-grown MoS2 field effect transistors

Grain boundaries in a chemical vapour deposition (CVD)-grown monolayer of MoS2 induce significant effects on the electrical and low frequency noise characteristics of the MoS2. Here, we investigated the electrical properties and noise characteristics of MoS2 field effect transistors (FETs) made with CVD-grown monolayer MoS2. The electrical and noise characteristics of MoS2 FETs were analysed and compared for the MoS2 channel layers with and without grain boundaries. The grain boundary in the CVD-grown MoS2 FETs can be the dominant noise source, and dependence of the extracted Hooge parameters on the gate voltage indicated the domination of the correlated number-mobility fluctuation at the grain boundaries. The percolative noise characteristics of the single grain regions of MoS2 were concealed by the noise generated at the grain boundary. This study can enhance understanding of the electrical transport hindrance and significant noise generation by trapped charges at grain boundaries of the CVD-grown MoS2 devices.

Two-Dimensional Thickness-Dependent Avalanche Breakdown Phenomena in MoS2 Field-Effect Transistors under High Electric Fields

As two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides electronic devices are scaled down to the sub-micrometer regime, the active layers of these materials are exposed to high lateral electric fields, resulting in electrical breakdown. In this regard, understanding the intrinsic nature in layer-stacked 2D semiconducting materials under high lateral electric fields is necessary for the reliable applications of their field-effect transistors. Here, we explore the electrical breakdown phenomena originating from avalanche multiplication in MoS2 field-effect transistors with different layer thicknesses and channel lengths. Modulating the band structure and bandgap energy in MoS2 allows the avalanche multiplication to be controlled by adjusting the number of stacking layers. This phenomenon could be observed in transition metal dichalcogenide semiconducting systems due to its quantum confinement effect on the band structure. The relationship between the critical electric field for avalanche breakdown and bandgap energy is well fitted to a power law curve in both monolayer and multilayer MoS2.

Tailoring the electrical properties of MoS2 field effect transistors by depositing Au nanoparticles and alkanethiol molecules.

We fabricated and characterized MoS2 field effect transistors. First, we measured the electrical properties of MoS2 field effect transistors (FETs) that were made with mechanically exfoliated MoS2 flakes. Then, we deposited Au nanoparticles on the MoS2 channel and measured the electrical properties. We observed whether the source-drain current increased or decreased after the Au particles were deposited. The deposited Au particles either formed an extra current path and increased the current or behaved as charge-withdrawing sites and decreased the current. Next, we deposited alkanethiol molecules on the Au particles to reduce the work function of the Au. Alkanethiol molecules are known to form a self-assembled monolayer on the Au surface, and the electric dipole moment of the molecules causes the work function of the Au to decrease. Au particles can capture electrons from the MoS2 channel due to their high work function. However, the decreased work function of the Au particles subjected to alkanethiol treatment could cause captured electrons to be released from the Au particles to MoS2. Therefore, the current increased after alkanethiol treatment. This study may provide useful methods to utilize surface treatments with particles and molecules to tailor the electrical properties of MoS2-based FETs.

Improved photoswitching response times of MoS2 field-effect transistors by stacking p-type copper phthalocyanine layer

Photoswitching response times (rise and decay times) of a vertical organic and inorganic heterostructure with p-type copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) and n-type molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) semiconductors are investigated. By stacking a CuPc layer on MoS2 field effect transistors, better photodetection capability and fast photoswitching rise and decay phenomena are observed. Specifically, with a 2 nm-thick CuPc layer on the MoS2 channel, the photoswitching decay time decreases from 3.57 s to 0.18 s. The p-type CuPc layer, as a passivation layer, prevents the absorption of oxygen on the surface of the MoS2 channel layer, which results in a shortened photoswitching decay time because adsorbed oxygen destroys the balanced ratio of electrons and holes, leading to the interruption of recombination processes. The suggested heterostructure may deliver enhanced photodetection abilities and photoswitching characteristics for realizing ultra-thin and sensitive photodetectors.