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Lateral epitaxial growth of two-dimensional layered semiconductor heterojunctions

Nature Nanotechnology volume 9, pages 1024–1030 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Two-dimensional layered semiconductors such as MoS2 and WSe2 have attracted considerable interest in recent times. Exploring the full potential of these layered materials requires precise spatial modulation of their chemical composition and electronic properties to create well-defined heterostructures. Here, we report the growth of compositionally modulated MoS2–MoSe2 and WS2–WSe2 lateral heterostructures by in situ modulation of the vapour-phase reactants during growth of these two-dimensional crystals. Raman and photoluminescence mapping studies demonstrate that the resulting heterostructure nanosheets exhibit clear structural and optical modulation. Transmission electron microscopy and elemental mapping studies reveal a single crystalline structure with opposite modulation of sulphur and selenium distributions across the heterostructure interface. Electrical transport studies demonstrate that the WSe2–WS2 heterojunctions form lateral p–n diodes and photodiodes, and can be used to create complementary inverters with high voltage gain. Our study is an important advance in the development of layered semiconductor heterostructures, an essential step towards achieving functional electronics and optoelectronics.

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Figure 1: Schematic of lateral epitaxial growth of WS2–WSe2 and MoS2–MoSe2 heterostructures.
Figure 2: AFM, Raman and photoluminescence characterization of WS2–WSe2 lateral heterostructures.
Figure 3: Structural and chemical modulation in WS2–WSe2 lateral heterostructures.
Figure 4: Growth and characterization of MoS2–MoSe2 lateral heterostructures.
Figure 5: Electrical characterization and functional devices from WS2–WSe2 lateral heterojunctions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Nanoelectronics Research Facility (NRF) at UCLA for technical support. The authors thank N.O. Weiss for preparing the schematics in Fig. 1. A.P. acknowledges support from the National Basic Research Program of China (no. 2012CB932703) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11374092). J.J. and R.Y. acknowledge support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21025521, 21221003). Y.H. acknowledges a National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award Program (1DP2OD007279). X.D. acknowledges support by the National Science Foundation (CAREER award no. 0956171).

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Author notes

  1. Xidong Duan, Chen Wang and Jonathan C. Shaw: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, Hunan, China

    Xidong Duan, Honglai Li, Xueping Wu, Ying Tang, Anlian Pan, Jianhui Jiang & Ruqing Yu

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, California, USA

    Chen Wang, Rui Cheng, Yu Chen & Yu Huang

  3. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, California, USA

    Jonathan C. Shaw & Xiangfeng Duan

  4. Key Laboratory for Micro-Nano Physics and Technology of Hunan Province, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, Hunan, China

    Honglai Li, Xueping Wu, Qinling Zhang & Anlian Pan

  5. California Nanosystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, California, USA

    Yu Huang & Xiangfeng Duan

Authors
  1. Xidong Duan
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Contributions

X.D. designed the research. X.D.D. synthesized the WS2–WSe2 heterostructures and conducted the initial Raman, photoluminescence and TEM characterizations and data analysis. J.C.S. synthesized the MoS2–MoSe2 heterostructures and conducted the relevant Raman characterizations. C.W. and R.C. conducted the Raman characterizations, device fabrication, characterization and data analysis. Y.C. conducted the TEM studies and data analysis, A.P., H.L. and X.W. contributed to the CVD set-up. A.P., Y.T. and Q.Z. contributed to Raman and photoluminescence studies. J.J., R.Y., A.P., Y.H. and X.D. supervised the research. X.D., X.D.D. and J.C.S. co-wrote the paper. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xidong Duan, Anlian Pan or Xiangfeng Duan.

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Duan, X., Wang, C., Shaw, J. et al. Lateral epitaxial growth of two-dimensional layered semiconductor heterojunctions. Nature Nanotech 9, 1024–1030 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2014.222

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