Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2) Crystal

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) is a member of the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) family. Due to its natural availability as molybdenite, it is one of the most studied and celebrated TMDCs.

Like graphene, MoS₂ has a similar two-dimensional layered structure - with each individual layer stacked upon each other to form the bulk single crystal. Each layer of MoS₂ is composed of a plane of hexagonally-arranged molybdenum atoms, positioned between two planes of hexagonally-arranged sulfur atoms. Like graphite, each layer is bound by weak van der Waals forces. Because of this, it is possible to obtain monolayer to few-layer crystal flakes from a bulk crystal via mechanical exfoliation (using scotch tape).

Structure of Molybdenum Disulfide Crystal

Platinum FET Test Chips for 2D Materials

• Affordable
• World-Wide Shipping
• Dual Channel Electrodes

Buy Online £180

Order Now

Applications of Molybdenum Disulfide Crystal

MoS₂ has an indirect band-gap of 1.23 eV for bulk single crystal or multi-layer films. However, single atomic layers have a direct band-gap of 1.9 eV. Due to its layered structure, MoS₂ is highly anisotropic with excellent nonlinear optical properties. It is widely used as a high-performance lubricant.

As a result of its direct band-gap, single-layer MoS₂ has received much interest for applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices (such as transistors, photodetectors, photovoltaics and light-emitting diodes). It is also being explored for applications in photonics, and can be combined with other TMDCs to create advanced heterostructured devices.

Synthesis

Molybdenum disulfide MoS₂ is manufactured via chemical vapour transport (CVT) crystallisation, with purities of over 99.999% achieved.

Usage

Molybdenum disulfide MoS₂ is used to create monolayer and few-layer MoS₂ by mechanical or liquid exfoliation. Single crystals can also be studied using a range of microscopies (including AFM and TEM).

Viscoelastic transfer using PDMS

Further information

More information on the properties, applications, processing and range of products available for molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) is described on the MoS₂ page.

Literature and Reviews

• Few-Layer MoS2: A Promising Layered Semiconductor, R. Ganatra et al., ACS Nano, 8 (5), 4074–4099 (2014); DOI: 10.1021/nn405938z.
• Atomically Thin MoS2: A New Direct-Gap Semiconductor, K. Mak et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 136805 (2015); DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.136805.
• Shape-Uniform, High-Quality Monolayered MoS2 Crystals for Gate-Tunable Photoluminescence, X. Zhang et al., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 9, 42121−42130 (2017); DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b14189.
• Photoluminescence from Chemically Exfoliated MoS2, G. Eda et al., Nano Lett., 11, 5111–5116 (2011); DOI: 10.1021/nl201874w.
• Fabrication of Single- and Multilayer MoS2 Film-Based Field-Effect Transistors for Sensing NO at Room Temperature, H. Li et al, Small, 8 (1), 63–67 (2012); DOI: 10.1002/smll.201101016.