Here, the synthesis of Molybdenum Disulphide (MoS2) flakes by means of anodic atmospheric arc discharge is reported for the first time. The vertical electrode configuration consisted of a compound anode (hollow graphite anode filled with MoS2 powder) and a solid graphite cathode placed just above of the compound anode. Arc processes were operated in pulsed mode to preferentially evaporate the powder component from the anode and to minimize Carbon ablation. Pulsed anodic arc discharges were conducted at 2 Hz and 10% duty cycle in 300 Torr of Helium with a peak current of 250-300 A and peak voltage of 35 V. A probe made of Tungsten wire was placed in the vicinity of the arc column to collect the evaporated material. The measured thickness profile was correlated to the particle flux distribution and it was fitted by a simple model of plasma expansion. During pulse phase, electron density was estimated around 5E22 m-3 or higher, and ion current density was of the order of 10 A/mm2. Morphology, structure and composition of the samples were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The study shows that pulsed arc discharge of the compound anode leads to moderate C deposition combined with MoS2 deposition in the form of fragmented nanocrystals and few atomic monolayers of MoS2. Such synthesis technique is promising to produce new 2D nanomaterials with tailored structure and functionality thanks to the flexibility of pulsed power.
An ability of different molecular potentials to reproduce the properties of 2D molybdenum disulphide polymorphs is examined. Structural and mechanical properties, as well as phonon dispersion of the 2H, 1T and 1T' single-layer MoS2 (SL MoS2) phases, were obtained using density functional theory (DFT) and molecular statics calculations (MS) with Stillinger-Weber, REBO, SNAP, and ReaxFF potentials. Quantitative systematic comparison and discussion of the results obtained are reported.
Two-dimensional molybdenum disulphide on graphene grown by chemical vapour deposition is a promising van der Waals system for applications in optoelectronics and catalysis. To extend the fundamental understanding of growth and intrinsic properties of molybdenum disulphide on graphene, molybdenum disulphide on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite is a suitable model system. Here we show, experimentally and by density-functional-theory calculations, that molybdenum disulphide flakes grow in two orientations. One of the orientations is energetically preferred, the other one is rotated by 30 degree.…
The present paper deals with the systematic growth of plasmonic gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) on molybdenum disulphide (MoS$_2$) nanosheets as well as the effect of Au NPs on the optical and magnetic properties. The crystalline nature of the nanocomposites is confirmed by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopic techniques. The optical properties are characterized using absorption and Raman spectroscopic techniques. The electron paramagnetic resonance technique is used to study the magnetic response of the nanocomposites. The paper attempts to gain a fundamental understanding of t…
Thermal transport in single layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is critical to advancing its applications. In this paper, we use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with first-principles force constants to study the isotope effect on the thermal transport of single layer MoS2. Through phonon modal analysis, we found that isotopes can strongly scatter phonons with intermediate frequencies, and the scattering behavior can be radically different from that predicted by conventional scattering model based on perturbation theory (Tamura's formula). Such a discrepancy becomes smaller for low isotope co…
The two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDCs) are an intriguing platform for studying light-matter interactions because they combine the electronic properties of conventional semiconductors with the optical resonances found in organic systems. However, the coupling strengths demonstrated in strong exciton-polariton coupling remain much lower than those found in organic systems. In this paper, we take on a new approach by utilizing the large oscillator strength of the above-band gap C exciton in few-layer molybdenum disulphide ($\text{FL-MoS}_2$). We show a k-space Rabi splitt…
A plethora of different morphologies are fabricated by the self assembly of molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) exfoliated flakes with the help of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique at the liquid/air interface. The MoS2 flakes are chemically exfoliated in various solvents but their stable sheet like assembly on substrate is achieved only in case of the flakes exfoliated in dimethylformamide. The density of the monolayer sheets is finely controlled by the surface pressure while the stabilization of MoS2 LB film onto the water subphase results in its self assembly into diffusion limited cluster aggregate…
Transition metal dichalcogenides exhibit rich phase diagrams dominated by the interplay of superconductivity and charge density waves, which often result in anomalies in the electric transport properties. Here, we employ the ionic gating technique to realize a tunable, non-volatile organic ion intercalation in bulk single crystals of molybdenum disulphide (MoS$_{2}$). We demonstrate that this gate-driven organic ion intercalation induces a strong electron doping in the system without changing the pristine $2H$ crystal symmetry and triggers the emergence of a re-entrant insulator-to-metal trans…
We study the phonon modes in single-walled MoS$_{2}$ nanotubes via the lattice dynamics calculation and molecular dynamics simulation. The phonon spectra for tubes of arbitrary chiralities are calculated from the dynamical matrix constructed by the combination of an empirical potential with the conserved helical quantum numbers $(κ, n)$. In particular, we show that the frequency ($ω$) of the radial breathing mode is inversely proportional to the tube diameter ($d$) as $ω=665.3/d$ {cm$^{-1}$}. The eigen vectors of the first twenty lowest-frequency phonon modes are illustrated. Based on these ei…
Molybdenum Disulphide (MoS2) is an interesting material which exists in atomically thin multilayers and can be exfoliated into monolayer or a few layers for multiple applications. It has emerged as a promising material for development of such efficient sensors. Here, we have exfoliated and decorated MoS2 flakes with novel, single phase High Entropy Alloy (HEA) nanoparticles using facile and scalable cryomilling technique, followed by sonochemical method. It is found that the decoration of HEA nanoparticles impart surface enhanced Raman scattering effect and reduction in the work function of th…
We investigate the valley related carrier dynamics in monolayer MoS2 using helicity resolved non-degenerate ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy at the vicinity of the high-symmetry K point under the temperature down to 78 K. Monolayer MoS2 shows remarkable transient reflection signals, in stark contrast to bilayer and bulk MoS2 due to the enhancement of many-body effect at reduced dimensionality. The helicity resolved ultrafast time-resolved result shows that the valley polarization is preserved for only several ps before scattering process makes it undistinguishable. We suggest that the dynamic…
We present a parameterization of the Stillinger-Weber potential to describe the interatomic interactions within single-layer MoS2 (SLMoS2). The potential parameters are fitted to an experimentally-obtained phonon spectrum, and the resulting empirical potential provides a good description for the energy gap and the crossover in the phonon spectrum. Using this potential, we perform classical molecular dynamics simulations to study chirality, size, and strain effects on the Young's modulus and the thermal conductivity of SLMoS2. We demonstrate the importance of the free edges on the mechanical an…
We derive, from an empirical interaction potential, an analytic formula for the elastic bending modulus of single-layer MoS2 (SLMoS2). By using this approach, we do not need to define or estimate a thickness value for SLMoS2, which is important due to the substantial controversy in defining this value for two-dimensional or ultrathin nanostructures such as graphene and nanotubes. The obtained elastic bending modulus of 9.61 eV in SLMoS2 is significantly higher than the bending modulus of 1.4 eV in graphene, and is found to be within the range of values that are obtained using thin shell theory…
Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors such as molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) hold great promise in electrical, optical, and mechanical devices and display novel physical phenomena such as coupled spin-valley physics and the valley Hall effect. However, the electron mobility of mono- and few-layer MoS2 has so far been substantially below theoretically predicted limits, particularly at low temperature (T), which has hampered efforts to observe its intrinsic quantum transport behaviors. Potential sources of disorder and scattering include both defects such as sulfur vacancies in the M…
We use liquid phase exfoliation to produce dispersions of molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) nanoflakes in aqueous surfactant solutions. The chemical structures of the bile salt surfactants play a crucial role in the exfoliation and stabilization of MoS2. The resultant MoS2 dispersions are heavily enriched in single and few (<6) layer flakes with large edge to surface area ratio. We use the dispersions to fabricate free-standing polymer composite wide-band saturable absorbers to develop mode-locked and Q- switched fibre lasers, tunable from 1535-1565 and 1030-1070 nm, respectively. We attribute this…
Organohalide perovskite with a variety of surface structures and morphologies have shown promising potential owing to the choice of the type of heterostructure dependent stability. We systematically investigate and discuss the impact of 2-dimensional molybdenum-disulphide (MoS2), molybdenum-diselenide (MoSe2), tungsten-disulphide (WS2), tungsten-diselenide (WSe2), boron- nitiride (BN) and graphene monolayers on band-gap and energy stability of organic-inorganic halide perovskites. We found that MAPbI3ML deposited on BN-ML shows room temperature stability (-25 meV~300K) with an optimal bandgap …
The objective of this work is to study the effects of charge redistribution, applied layer-normal electric fields, applied strain, and layer engineering on the band alignment of Black Phosphorus (BP)/Molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) heterostructure through Density Functional Theory (DFT) simulations. Black phosphorus works as a p-type material with high mobility, mechanical flexibility, and sensitivity to number of layers. Combining it with the more electronegative material, MoS2 results in strong carrier confinement and a Type II heterostructure. Charge redistribution among the layers shifts the …
We have decoupled the intrinsic optical and electrostatic effects arising in monolayer and few-layer molybdenum disulphide from those influenced by the flake-substrate interaction.
Precise manipulation of electronic band structures of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides and oxides (TMD&Os) via localised strain engineering is an exciting avenue for exploiting their unique characteristics for electronics, optoelectronics, and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) applications. This work experimentally demonstrates that mechanically-induced electrical transitions can be engineered in quasi-2D molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) and molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) using an in situ electrical nanoindentation technique. It is shown that localised strains on such quasi-2D …
We detect electroluminescence in single layer molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) field-effect transistors built on transparent glass substrates. By comparing absorption, photoluminescence, and electroluminescence of the same MoS2 layer, we find that they all involve the same excited state at 1.8eV. The electroluminescence has pronounced threshold behavior and is localized at the contacts. The results show that single layer MoS2, a direct band gap semiconductor, is promising for novel optoelectronic devices, such as 2-dimensional light detectors and emitters.
Molybdenum disulphide, a diamagnetic layered dichalcogenide solid, is found to show magnetic ordering at room temperature when exposed to a 2 MeV proton beam. The temperature dependence of magnetization displays ferrimagnetic behavior with a Curie temperature of 895 K. A disorder mode corresponding to a zone-edge phonon and a Mo valence higher than +4, have been detected in the irradiated samples using Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The possible origins of long-range magnetic ordering in irradiated MoS2 samples are discussed.
We report on the integration of monolayer molybdenum disulphide with silicon nitride microresonators assembled by visco-elastic layer transfer techniques. Evanescent coupling from the resonator mode to the monolayer is confirmed through measurements of cavity transmission. The absorption of the monolayer semiconductor flakes in this geometry is determined to be 850 dB/cm, which is larger than that of graphene and black phosphorus with the same thickness. This technique can be applied to diverse monolayer semiconductors for assembling hybrid optoelectronic devices such as photodetectors and mod…
The mechanisms underlying the intrinsic photoresponse of few-layer (FL) molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) field-effect transistors are investigated via scanning photocurrent microscopy. We attribute the locally enhanced photocurrent to band-bending assisted separation of photoexcited carriers at the MoS2/Au interface. The wavelength-dependent photocurrents of few layer MoS2 transistors qualitatively follow the optical absorption spectra of MoS2, providing direct evidence of interband photoexcitation. Time and spectrally resolved photocurrent measurements at varying external electric fields and carr…
Relative out of plane displacements of the constituent layers of two dimensional materials gives rise to unique low frequency breathing modes. By computing the height-height correlation functions in momentum space, we show that, the layer breathing modes (LBMs) can be mapped consistently to vibrations of a simple linear chain model. Our calculated thickness dependence of LBM frequencies for few layer (FL) graphene and molybdenum disulphide (MoS$_{2}$) are in excellent agreement with available experiments. Our results show a redshift of LBM frequency with increase in temperature, which is a dir…
Van der Waals single-layer materials are characterized by an inherent extremely low bending rigidity and therefore are prone to nanoscale structural modifications due to substrate interactions. Such interactions can induce excess charge concentration, conformational ripples and residual mechanical strain. In this work, we employed spatially resolved Raman and Photoluminescence images to investigate strain and doping inhomogeneities in a single layer exfoliated Molybdenum disulphide crystal. We have found that correlations between the spectral parameters of the most prominent Raman bands A1' an…
Monolayer molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) is a promising two-dimensional direct-bandgap semiconductor with potential applications in atomically thin and flexible electronics. An attractive insulating substrate or mate for MoS2 (and related materials such as graphene) is hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). Stacked heterostructures of MoS2 and h-BN have been produced by manual transfer methods, but a more efficient and scalable assembly method is needed. Here we demonstrate the direct growth of single- and few-layer MoS2 on h-BN by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, which is scalable with suitably…
Reconstruction of the exit wave function is an important route to interpreting high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images. Here we demonstrate that convolutional neural networks can be used to reconstruct the exit wave from a short focal series of HRTEM images, with a fidelity comparable to conventional exit wave reconstruction. We use a fully convolutional neural network based on the U-Net architecture, and demonstrate that we can train it on simulated exit waves and simulated HRTEM images of graphene-supported molybdenum disulphide (an industrial desulfurization catalyst…
The metal-insulator transition (MIT) is one of the remarkable electrical transport properties of atomically thin molybdenum disulphide (MoS2). Although the theory of electron-electron interactions has been used in modeling the MIT phenomena in MoS2, the underlying mechanism and detailed MIT process still remain largely unexplored. Here, we demonstrate that the vertical metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) heterostructures built from atomically thin MoS2 (monolayers and multilayers) are ideal capacitor structures for probing the electron states in MoS2. The vertical configuration of MIS heterost…
Gated molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) exhibits a rich phase diagram upon increasing electron doping, including a superconducting phase, a polaronic reconstruction of the bandstructure, and structural transitions away from the 2H polytype. The average time between two charge-carrier scattering events - the scattering lifetime - is a key parameter to describe charge transport and obtain physical insight in the behavior of such a complex system. In this work, we combine the solution of the Boltzmann transport equation (based on ab-initio density functional theory calculations of the electronic bands…
