Understanding the electronic contact between molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and metal electrodes is vital for the realization of future MoS2-based electronic devices. Natural MoS2 has the drawback of a high density of both metal and sulfur defects and impurities. We present evidence that subsurface metal-like defects with a density of ∼1011 cm–2 induce negative ionization of the outermost S atom complex. We investigate with high-spatial-resolution surface characterization techniques the effect of these defects on the local conductance of MoS2. Using metal nanocontacts (contact area < 6 nm2), we find that subsurface metal-like defects (and not S-vacancies) drastically decrease the metal/MoS2 Schottky barrier height as compared to that in the pristine regions. The magnitude of this decrease depends on the contact metal. The decrease of the Schottky barrier height is attributed to strong Fermi level pinning at the defects. Indeed, this is demonstrated in the measured pinning factor, which is equal to ∼0.1 at defect locations and ∼0.3 at pristine regions. Our findings are in good agreement with the theoretically predicted values. These defects provide low-resistance conduction paths in MoS2-based nanodevices and will play a prominent role as the device junction contact area decreases in size.

Understanding the electron transport through transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMDC)-based semiconductor/metal junctions is vital for the realization of future TMDC-based (opto-)electronic devices. Despite the bonding in TMDCs being largely constrained within the layers, strong Fermi-level pinning (FLP) was observed in TMDC-based devices, reducing the tunability of the Schottky barrier height. We present evidence that metal-induced gap states (MIGS) are the origin for the large FLP similar to conventional semiconductors. A variety of TMDCs (MoSe2, WSe2, WS2, and MoTe2) were investigated using high-spatial-resolution surface characterization techniques, permitting us to distinguish between defected and pristine regions. The Schottky barrier heights on the pristine regions can be explained by MIGS, inducing partial FLP. The FLP strength is further enhanced by disorder-induced gap states induced by transition-metal vacancies or substitutionals at the defected regions. Our findings emphasize the importance of defects on the electron transport properties in TMDC-based devices and confirm the origin of FLP in TMDC-based metal/semiconductor junctions.

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We report a combined experimental and theoretical study of the growth of sub-monolayer amounts of silicon (Si) on molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). At room temperature and low deposition rates we have found compelling evidence that the deposited Si atoms intercalate between the MoS2 layers. Our evidence relies on several experimental observations: (1) Upon the deposition of Si on pristine MoS2 the morphology of the surface transforms from a smooth surface to a hill-and-valley surface. The lattice constant of the hill-and-valley structure amounts to 3.16 Å, which is exactly the lattice constant of pristine MoS2. (2) The transitions from hills to valleys are not abrupt, as one would expect for epitaxial islands growing on-top of a substrate, but very gradual. (3) I(V) scanning tunneling spectroscopy spectra recorded at the hills and valleys reveal no noteworthy differences. (4) Spatial maps of dI/dz reveal that the surface exhibits a uniform work function and a lattice constant of 3.16 Å. (5) X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy measurements reveal that sputtering of the MoS2/Si substrate does not lead to a decrease, but an increase of the relative Si signal. Based on these experimental observations we have to conclude that deposited Si atoms do not reside on the MoS2 surface, but rather intercalate between the MoS2 layers. Our conclusion that Si intercalates upon the deposition on MoS2 is at variance with the interpretation by Chiappe et al. (Adv. Mater. 2014, 26, 2096–2101) that silicon forms a highly strained epitaxial layer on MoS2. Finally, density functional theory calculations indicate that silicene clusters encapsulated by MoS2 are stable.

Here we report on a novel, noninvasive route for operando tailoring of the charge transport properties of metal/WS2 contacts without the negative impacts to two-dimensional materials arising from conventional doping methods. The doping level of thin WS2 flakes supported on insulating mica is susceptible to local charge variations induced by the presence of a hydration layer between mica and WS2. We demonstrate, via the use of several complementary scanning probe techniques, that the direct control of the state and thickness of this intercalated water film controls the charge injection properties of Pt/WS2 nanocontacts. A switch from unipolar to ambipolar transport was achieved by environmentally controlling the thickness of the intercalated water. We show that the effect persists even for multilayer flakes and that it is completely reversible, opening a new route toward the realization of novel electronics with environmentally controllable functionalities.