@article{ae46d526e59146ca8eca224a4e4bc314,
title = "Surfactant-Mediated Growth and Patterning of Atomically Thin Transition Metal Dichalcogenides",
abstract = "The role of additives in facilitating the growth of conventional semiconducting thin films is well-established. Apparently, their presence is also decisive in the growth of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), yet their role remains ambiguous. In this work, we show that the use of sodium bromide enables synthesis of TMD monolayers via a surfactant-mediated growth mechanism, without introducing liquefaction of metal oxide precursors. We discovered that sodium ions provided by sodium bromide chemically passivate edges of growing molybdenum disulfide crystals, relaxing in-plane strains to suppress 3D islanding and promote monolayer growth. To exploit this growth model, molybdenum disulfide monolayers were directly grown into desired patterns using predeposited sodium bromide as a removable template. The surfactant-mediated growth not only extends the families of metal oxide precursors but also offers a way for lithography-free patterning of TMD monolayers on various surfaces to facilitate fabrication of atomically thin electronic devices.",
author = "Xufan Li and Ethan Kahn and Ethan Kahn and Gugang Chen and Xiahan Sang and Jincheng Lei and Donata Passarello and Oyedele, {Akinola D.} and Dante Zakhidov and Chen, {Kai Wen} and Chen, {Yu Xun} and Hsieh, {Shang Hsien} and Kazunori Fujisawa and Unocic, {Raymond R.} and Kai Xiao and Alberto Salleo and Toney, {Michael F.} and Chen, {Chia Hao} and Efthimios Kaxiras and Mauricio Terrones and Yakobson, {Boris I.} and Harutyunyan, {Avetik R.}",
note = "Funding Information: We thank Jordan Lerach and Sebastian Van Nuffel for assisting TOF-SIMS experiments, Tianyi Zhang and Ana Laura Elias for TEM measurements, Brian Tackett for XPS measurement, Gamini Sumanasekera for providing SiO/Si substrates with various thickness of oxide layers, and Jesse Sun-Woo Ko and Maria Lukatskaya for assisting with some of SEM measurements. STEM characterization and FET fabrication/measurement were conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. The research using Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Light Source at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is supported by U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515. E.K. is funded by the Center for Integrated Quantum Materials, NSF Grant No. DMR-1231319, and by ARO MURI Award No. W911NF-14-0247. D.Z. is supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1656518. AES. and conventional XPS measurements were performed at the Stanford Nano Shared Facilities (SNSF), supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. ECCS-1542152. 2 ++ Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 American Chemical Society.",
year = "2020",
month = jun,
day = "23",
doi = "10.1021/acsnano.0c00132",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "14",
pages = "6570--6581",
journal = "ACS nano",
issn = "1936-0851",
publisher = "American Chemical Society",
number = "6",
}