The success of graphene opened a door for a new class of chalcogenide materials with unique properties that can be applied in the semiconductor technology [1]. Monolayers of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDCs) possess a direct band gap [2] that is crucial for optoelectronic applications. Additionally, the direct band gap can be easily tuned by either chemical composition or external stimuli. Next to the optoelectronic applications, where a monolayer planar structure is necessary to employ, a layer of standing flakes, which possesses a large surface area, can be used for hydrogen evolution [3] a photodegradation of organic dyes [4] or as electrodes in Li ion batteries [5].

In principle, TMDCs can be prepared by various top-down (e.g. exfoliation) and bottom-up techniques, such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD) growth techniques [1]. MoS₂, a typical representative of TMDCs, has been widely studied for many applications. Recently, the possibility to employ ALD as a technique to grow MoS2 has been reported. In these works (CH3)2S2 [6] or H2S [7, 8] were used as the S precursor and Mo(CO)6 [6], MoCl5 [7] or Mo(thd)3 [8] as the Mo precursors. From the practical point of view, MoSe2 is even more interesting than MoS2 since MoSe2 possesses a higher electrical conductivity than MoS2 [9, 10]. Recently, we have shown that ALD deposition of MoSe2 [11] or Mo-O-Se [12] using ((CH3)3Si)2Se as the Se precursor and the MoCl5 or Mo(CO)6, respectively, as the Mo precursors is feasible.

The presentation will focus on the synthesis of MoS₂ and MoSe₂ by ALD, their characterization and applications in various fields. Experimental details and some recent photocatalytic and hydrogen evolution results will be presented and discussed.

References:

[1] A. V. Kolobov, J. Tominaga, Two-Dimensional Transition-Metal, Dichalcogenides. Springer Series in Materials Science, Springer International Publishing AG, Switzerland 2016

[2] B. Radisavljevic, A. Radenovic, J. Brivio, V. Giacometti, A. Kis, Nat. Nanotechnol. 2011, 6, 147.

[3] L. Wang, Z. Sofer, J. Luxa, M. Pumera, Adv. Mater. Interfaces 2015, 2, 1500041

[4] Y. Wu, M. Xu, X. Chen, S. Yang, H. Wu, J. Pan, X. Xiong, Nanoscale 2016, 8, 440

[5] D. Ilic, K. Wiesener, W. Schneider, H. Oppermann, G. Krabbes, J.Power Sources 1985, 14, 223

[6] Z. Jin, S.Shin,D.H.Kwon, S. J.Han,Y. S.Min,Nanoscale 2014, 6, 14453.

[7] L. K. Tan, B. Liu, J. H. Teng, S. Guo, H. Y. Low, K. P. Loh, Nanoscale 2014, 6, 10584

[8] M. Mattinen et al., Adv. Mater. Interfaces 2017, 4, 1700123.

[9] D. Kong, H. Wang, J. J. Cha, M. Pasta, K. J. Koski, J. Yao, Y. Cui, Nano Lett. 2013, 13, 1341.

[10] A. Eftekhari, Appl. Mater. Today 2017, 8.

[11] M. Krbal et al., Phys. Stat. Sol. RRL, 2018, 12, 1800023

[12] S. Ng et al., Adv. Mater. Interfaces 2017, 1701146.