A novel synthesis method for large-area MoS2 film with improved electrical contact

Two-dimensional layered materials (2DLMs) are radically different from conventional bulk semiconductors, and major challenges in achieving practical 2DLM devices with good performance lie in the areas of improving the electrical contacts that connect 2DLMS with electrodes rather than in improving the quality of the channel material itself. To meet this challenge, we have devised a promising large-scale synthesis method for few-layer MoS2 film integrated with unique fabrication process that provides good contact. A thin layer of Mo was first deposited using sputtering evaporation and defined by a shadow mask, instead of immediate sulfurization in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) furnace. Au contact electrodes were then deposited on Mo, followed by further sulfurization, which readily provides source-drain electrodes for synthesized MoS2. Top-gated transistors based on such MoS2 film show improved device performance compared to transistors fabricated using the traditional method. The transfer line method was further applied to verify that the proposed method could effectively decrease the contact resistance by more than 10 times, which can be attributed to the incomplete sulfurization of Mo atoms beneath the Au electrodes. It is envisioned that the proposed method could eventually be used to provide uniform and low contact resistance for CVD-grown 2DLM devices.