Characterization of Rotational Stacking Layers in Large-Area MoSe2 Film Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy and Interaction with Photon

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2017 Sep 13;9(36):30786-30796. doi: 10.1021/acsami.7b05475. Epub 2017 Aug 31.

Abstract

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are promising next-generation materials for optoelectronic devices because, at subnanometer thicknesses, they have a transparency, flexibility, and band gap in the near-infrared to visible light range. In this study, we examined continuous, large-area MoSe2 film, grown by molecular beam epitaxy on an amorphous SiO2/Si substrate, which facilitated direct device fabrication without exfoliation. Spectroscopic measurements were implemented to verify the formation of a homogeneous MoSe2 film by performing mapping on the micrometer scale and measurements at multiple positions. The crystalline structure of the film showed hexagonal (2H) rotationally stacked layers. The local strain at the grain boundaries was mapped using a geometric phase analysis, which showed a higher strain for a 30° twist angle compared to a 13° angle. Furthermore, the photon-matter interaction for the rotational stacking structures was investigated as a function of the number of layers using spectroscopic ellipsometry. The optical band gap for the grown MoSe2 was in the near-infrared range, 1.24-1.39 eV. As the film thickness increased, the band gap energy decreased. The atomically controlled thin MoSe2 showed promise for application to nanoelectronics, photodetectors, light emitting diodes, and valleytronics.

Keywords: dielectric dispersion; localized strain; molecular beam epitaxy; molybenum diselenides; optical band gap; rotational layer; transition metal dichalcogenids.