Defect Chemistry of Few- and Monolayer MoS2

Defect chemistry has given the possibility to control and tune properties to obtain better functional bulk materials. In comparison, and despite the recent interest and prospects of two-dimensional materials, their defect chemistry remains mainly unexplored. We believe that an understanding of the influence of the dielectric environment on the defect chemistry and properties is crucial for further developing new and superior 2D materials. Here, we present results for molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) films on Si/SiO2 substrates. Methods comprise magnetron sputtering of Mo with subsequent annealing in H₂S atmosphere and the chemical vapour transport method. The films and defects are characterised by AFM, XPS, photoluminescence, optical microscopy and Raman spectroscopy in addition to electrical measurements in controlled atmospheres. Ab initio computations on a variety of point defects and defect clusters further elucidate the defect chemistry.