Achieving tunability of two dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) functions calls for the introduction of hybrid 2D materials by means of localized interactions with zero dimensional (0D) materials. A metal-semiconductor interface, as in gold (Au) - molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), is of great interest from the standpoint of fundamental science as it constitutes an outstanding platform to investigate plasmonic-exciton interactions and charge transfer. The applied aspects of such systems introduce new options for electronics, photovoltaics, detectors, gas sensing, catalysis, and biosensing. Here we consider pristine MoS2 and study its interaction with Au nanoislands, resulting in local variations of photoluminescence (PL) in Au-MoS2 hybrid structures. By depositing monolayers of Au on MoS2, we investigate the electronic structure of the resulting hybrid systems. We present strong evidence of PL quenching of MoS2 as a result of charge transfer from MoS2 to Au: p-doping of MoS2. The results suggest new avenues for 2D nanoelectronics, active control of transport or catalytic properties.

We demonstrate that the electrical property of a single layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) can be significantly tuned from semiconducting to insulating regime via controlled exposure to oxygen plasma. The mobility, on-current and resistance of single layer MoS 2 devices were varied up to four orders of magnitude by controlling the plasma exposure time. Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory studies suggest that the significant variation of electronic properties is caused by the creation of insulating MoO 3 -rich disordered domains in the MoS 2 sheet upon oxygen plasma exposure, leading to an exponential variation of resistance and mobility as a function of plasma exposure time. The resistance variation calculated using an effective medium model is in excellent agreement with the measurements. The simple approach described here can be used for the fabrication of tunable two dimensional nanodevices on MoS 2 and other transition metal dichalcogenides.

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The present study explores the structural, optical (photoluminescence (PL)), and electrical properties of lateral heterojunctions fabricated by selective exposure of mechanically exfoliated few layer two-dimensional (2D) molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) flakes under oxygen (O2)-plasma. Raman spectra of the plasma exposed MoS2 flakes show a significant loss in the structural quality due to lattice distortion and creation of oxygen-containing domains in comparison to the pristine part of the same flake. The PL mapping evidences the complete quenching of peak A and B consistent with a change in the exciton states of MoS2 after the plasma treatment, indicating a significant change in its band gap properties. The electrical transport measurements performed across the pristine and the plasma-exposed MoS2 flake exhibit a gate tunable current rectification behavior with a rectification ratio up to 1.3  ×  10(3) due to the band-offset at the pristine and plasma-exposed MoS2 interface. Our Raman, PL, and electrical transport data confirm the formation of an excellent lateral heterojunction in 2D MoS2 through its bandgap modulation via oxygen plasma.

The ability to modify the band structure of a semiconducting material via doping or defect engineering is of significant importance for the development of many novel applications in emerging nanoelectronics. Here, we show that the electronic transport properties of molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) field effect transistors of various layer thicknesses (up to 8 layers) can be tailored via control exposure to oxygen plasma. We demonstrate that all the samples can be turned into complete insulators with increasing plasma exposure time and that the time required to turn the samples to complete insulators depends on the number of layers (L). We also found that the variation of mobility (μ) with plasma time (t) for all samples can be collapsed onto one curve and that μ follows a relation μ/L ≈ exp(−φt/L) where φ = μ/ μ, and μ̇is the time derivative of μ. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data show that MoO 3 defected regions were created by oxygen plasma and that the amount of MoO 3 increases with plasma time. Our study suggest that the energetic oxygens from the plasma not only interacts with the surface atoms but also propagate deep inside the layers to create MoO 3 defects in the MoS 2 , the transport properties of which can be described as an effective medium semiconductor with a bandgap higher than MoS 2 .

Good homogeneous and stoichiometric ZnO nanofiber thin films have been deposited onto cleaned glass substrate by a simple spray pyrolysis technique under atmospheric pressure using zinc acetate precursor at temperature 200 °C. Films of various thicknesses have been obtained by varying the deposition time, while all other deposition parameters such as spray rate, carrier gas pressure and distance between spray nozzle to substrate were kept constant. Surface morphology and optical properties of the as deposited thin films have been studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) attached with an EDX and UV visible spectroscopy. From EDX data, atomic weight % of Zinc and Oxygen were found to be 49.22 % and 49.62 % respectively. The SEM micrograph of the film shows uniform deposition and scattered nano fiber around the nucleation centers. The optical band gap of the ZnO thin films was found to be in the range 3.3 to 3.4 eV and the band gap decreases with thickness of the film. Optical constants such as refractive index, extinction coefficient, real and imaginary parts of dielelectric constants were evaluated from reflectance and absorbance spectra.

We report strategies to achieve both high assembly yield of carbon nanotubes at selected positions of the circuit via dielectrophoresis (DEP) and field effect transistor (FET) yield using an aqueous solution of semiconducting-enriched single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-SWNTs). When the DEP parameters were optimized for the assembly of individual s-SWNTs, 97% of the devices showed FET behavior with a maximum mobility of 210 cm2 V(-1) s(-1), on-off current ratio ∼10(6) and on-conductance up to 3 µS, but with an assembly yield of only 33%. As the DEP parameters were optimized so that one to five s-SWNTs are connected per electrode pair, the assembly yield was almost 90%, with ∼90% of these assembled devices demonstrating FET behavior. Further optimization gave an assembly yield of 100% with up to 10 SWNTs per site, but with a reduced FET yield of 59%. Improved FET performance including higher current on-off ratio and high switching speed were obtained by integrating a local Al2O3 gate to the device. Our 90% FET with 90% assembly yield is the highest reported so far for carbon nanotube devices. Our study provides a pathway which could become a general approach for the high yield fabrication of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible carbon nanotube FETs.

Raw and laccase-treated kenaf fibre (KF) were used individually to reinforce recycled polypropylene (RPP) using extrusion and injection moulding. Laccase was used to modify the surface of the fibre to improve the compatibility between fibre and matrix. Enzyme concentration and soaking time were considered as the treatment parameters. Maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) was used with a ratio of 1:10 as coupling agent to fibre. Fibres were characterized by density, energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), whereas composites were characterized by density, melt flow index (MFI), mechanical tests (tensile, flexural, and impact), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), field emission electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and water uptake analysis. Density, O/C ratio, and crystallinity of the treated fibre were increased. An optimum fibre loading of 40% gave the highest tensile properties. Tensile strength improved due to coupling agent by 37%, whereas treatment of fibre did the same by 40%. Flexural, impact, and thermal properties of the composites and crystallinity of the matrix were improved due to treatment. Morphological images of the composites showed better adhesion, and moisture absorption was reduced by 37% due to treatment and use of coupling agent.