Large Area MoS2 : Growth and Device Characteristics

Abstract

There has been growing interest in two-dimensional (2-D) crystals beyond graphene for next-generation nano-electronics. Transition metal dichalcogenides have been most widely studied, for their semiconducting characteristics and hence, potential applications. This interest has fueled many efforts to establish methods for synthesis of MoS2 layers, a most promising candidate, in controlled numbers over large areas. One of the most scalable methods is chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The current approaches to growth from the vapor phase are by and large very empirical. This thesis is hence concerned with the predictive synthesis of n-layered MoS2 using CVD uniformly over large areas and the correlation of growth parameters with the structural and electronic properties of the deposited films. A simple, relatively non-toxic and non-pyrophoric chemistry, consisting of Mo(CO)6 and H2S was first chosen for vapor phase synthesis. This chemistry allowed synthesis of MoS2 from precursors located outside of the growth reactor, a necessary condition for electronics device technology. Iterative thermodynamic modeling of the Mo-S-C-O-H system and growth was then done to identify the appropriate CVD process windows for the growth of pure MoS2, departures from stoichiometry, contamination and breakdown of equilibrium modelling. Remarkable agreement between theoretical modelling and actual growth has been observed leading to predictable deposition. Within these thermodynamic windows, the gas phase supersaturation were then reduced to obtain better kinetic control over crystal growth. It is shown that control of supersaturation at the very initial stages of growth is critical to reduce the nucleation density and hence obtain monolayers with small defect densities. In addition, it is shown that at higher temperatures the kinetics of nucleation and growth are determined by the supersaturation on the growth surface. Physico-chemical modelling reveals that this steady state supersaturation is determined by the kinetics of adsorption and desorption. All of this understanding has been used to realize a variety of structures from discrete crystalline islands- 30 nm to 150 microns- to deposits with controlled number of layers – n =1 to 6 or greater- uniformly over large areas on quartz and sapphire. Gas phase chemistry also affects the electrical characteristics of the as deposited layers. It is shown, for the first time, that by changing gas phase Mo to S ratios the stoichiometry of the deposited layers MoS2 can be made metal or chalcogen deficient. This yields MoS2 that can be either p-type or n-type. p-type and n-type MoS2 with mobilities up to 7.4 cm2/Vs and 40 cm2/Vs respectively are demonstrated. FETs fabricated on MoS(2-x) samples (increasing x) with varying stoichiometry showed a maximum on-current of 18 μA (4.5 μA/μm) in vacuum and 0.6 μA (0.15 μA/μm) in air for a drain bias Vds = 1 V. Sulphur deficiency also affect reliability. While samples with a higher concentration of sulphur vacancies have higher mobility in vacuum, the mobility degrades significantly in air and gets reversed on annealing in H2S. The details of such correlation between growth and electrical characteristics are discussed in this thesis.