Synthesis of Few-Layer Thick Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS₂) Films and Crystals via Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD)

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) is an attractive material for quantum emission research due to the emergence of single photon emission from exciton traps in the defect sites of mono- to few-layers thin structures. As such, a deliberate defect-site engineering on two-dimensional MoS₂ films allows for realization of a scalable, site-selective quantum emission platform for applications in quantum information processing and quantum key distribution. Therefore, a low-cost, high-throughput synthesis of high-quality material is essential for the next technological breakthrough. In this report, we present low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) approach as well as material characterizations of MoS₂ films and crystals. A systematic optimization of the growth parameters, such as precursor powders quantity, the distance between precursors, and the substrate orientation relative to the argon flow, resulted in varying MoS₂ films thickness as well as crystal distribution. The presented work provides the basis not only for the MoS₂ growth technology, but also for other transition metal dichalcogenides materials.