[www.ferro-alloys.com] UK-based Oxford Instruments has launched a molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) growth process development using its Nanofab nanoscale growth system.

Single-layer MoS2 is a direct-bandgap semiconductor that has wide-ranging applications in optoelectronics such as LEDs, photovoltaics, photodetectors, and bio-sensors, while multi-layer MoS2 is an indirect-bandgap semiconductor that shows promise in future digital electronics.

Oxford Instruments says that it has undertaken extensive research and optimization of the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process, developed on a Nanofab system equipped with precursor delivery modules capable of delivering a wide range of liquid/solid/metal-organic precursors suitable for two-dimensional (2D) materials growth. Offering growth on a range of substrates including sapphire and atomic-layer deposited (ALD) alumina (Al2O3 and SiO2), the system is capable of depositing other 2D transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) such as WS2, MoSe2 etc.

"This process development and its proven results are extremely exciting, as we enter a new phase in our 2D materials processing capabilities with the Nanofab plasma processing system," comments Frazer Anderson, strategic marketing & business development director at Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology (OIPT). "Raman analysis has demonstrated a high-quality mono-layer, with AFM [atomic force microscopy] showing resultant smooth and uniform films," he adds. "We anticipate that this development in 2D materials growth will facilitate the next generation of nano-electronic devices."

• [Editor:Jiang Li Juan ]