Photo-induced exfoliation of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductors

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Abstract
Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) monolayers have attracted great attention due to their unique electronic properties, which promise their applications especially in optoelectronics and valleytronics. A simple and reliable way to fabricate the monolayers is highly desirable for wide applications. Herein, we report a photo-induced exfoliation method for the controllable fabrication of monolayer TMDCs proceeded with the oxidation reaction of TMDCs by the photo-generated holes. The commonly used microscope halogen lamp is sufficient to initiate the exfoliation in pure water. A bulk MoS 2 flake with a surface area of 10 000 µ m 2 and a thickness of 100 nm can be directly exfoliated down to monolayer within four seconds under a 94 nW µ m −2 660 nm laser illumination and by applying 0.1 V potential electrochemically, achieving an astonishing exfoliation speed and efficiency. This method is demonstrated to be applicable also to other semiconducting TMDCs, such as MoSe 2 , WSe 2 , and WS 2 .
Funding Information
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (21633005, 21790354, 21711530704, 21621091)
  • MOST of China (2016YFA0200601)

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