Search for: All records

Abstract Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are promising candidates for optoelectronic application and quantum information processes due to their inherent out-of-plane 2D confinement. In addition, they offer the possibility of achieving low-dimensional in-plane exciton confinement, similar to zero-dimensional quantum dots, with intriguing optical and electronic properties via strain or composition engineering. However, realizing such laterally confined 2D monolayers and systematically controlling size-dependent optical properties remain significant challenges. Here, we report the observation of lateral confinement of excitons in epitaxially grown in-plane MoSe₂quantum dots (~15-60 nm wide) inside a continuous matrix of WSe₂monolayer film via a sequential epitaxial growth process. Various optical spectroscopy techniques reveal the size-dependent exciton confinement in the MoSe₂monolayer quantum dots with exciton blue shift (12-40 meV) at a low temperature as compared to continuous monolayer MoSe₂. Finally, single-photon emission (g²(0) ~ 0.4) was also observed from the smallest dots at 1.6 K. Our study opens the door to compositionally engineered, tunable, in-plane quantum light sources in 2D semiconductors. 

Metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) is a promising technique for wafer-scale synthesis of MoS2 monolayers for 2D field-effect transistors (2D-FETs) and related devices. Epitaxial growth of MoS2 on sapphire provides films that are crystallographically well-oriented but typically contain low-angle grain boundaries (e.g., mirror twins), voids, and other defects depending on growth conditions and substrate characteristics. In this study, we investigate microstructure, optical properties, and field-effect characteristics of wafer-scale MoS2 monolayers grown by MOCVD on c-plane sapphire over a narrow window of growth temperatures (900–1000 °C). The density of low-angle grain boundaries in the MoS2 monolayer was found to decrease dramatically from 50% areal coverage for films grown at 900 °C to 5% at 1000 °C. This decrease in low-angle grain boundary density is correlated with an increase in the room-temperature photoluminescence intensity of A excitons and a decrease in the full-width-half maximum (FWHM) of the Raman A1g peak, which are typically indicative of a general reduction in defects in MoS2. However, the best transport properties (e.g., mean field-effect mobility mFE = 17.3 cm2/V s) were obtained in MoS2 monolayers grown at an intermediate temperature of 950 °C. It was found that as the growth temperature increased, small regions bound by high-angle boundaries begin to appear within the monolayer and increase in areal coverage, from ∼2% at 900 °C to ∼5% at 950 °C to ∼10% at 1000 °C. The growth temperature of 950 °C, therefore, provides an intermediate condition where the combined effects of low-angle and high-angle boundaries are minimized. The results of this study provide guidance on MOCVD growth and characterization that can be used to further optimize the performance of MoS2 2D-FETs.