Hidden Vacancy Benefit in Monolayer 2D Semiconductors
Xiankun Zhang, Qingliang Liao, Zhuo Kang, Baishan Liu, Xiaozhi Liu, Yang Ou, Jiankun Xiao, Junli Du, Yihe Liu, Gao Li, Lin Gu, Mengyu Hong, Huihui Yu, Zheng Zhang, Xiangfeng Duan, Yue Zhang
Abstract
Abstract Monolayer 2D semiconductors (e.g., MoS 2 ) are of considerable interest for atomically thin transistors but generally limited by insufficient carrier mobility or driving current. Minimizing the lattice defects in 2D semiconductors represents a common strategy to improve their electronic properties, but has met with limited success to date. Herein, a hidden benefit of the atomic vacancies in monolayer 2D semiconductors to push their performance limit is reported. By purposely tailoring the sulfur vacancies (SVs) to an optimum density of 4.7% in monolayer MoS 2 , an unusual mobility enhancement is obtained and a record‐high carrier mobility (>115 cm 2 V −1 s −1 ) is achieved, realizing monolayer MoS 2 transistors with an exceptional current density (>0.60 mA µm −1 ) and a record‐high on/off ratio >10 10 , and enabling a logic inverter with an ultrahigh voltage gain >100. The systematic transport studies reveal that the counterintuitive vacancy‐enhanced transport originates from a nearest‐neighbor hopping conduction model, in which an optimum SV density is essential for maximizing the charge hopping probability. Lastly, the vacancy benefit into other monolayer 2D semiconductors is further generalized; thus, a general strategy for tailoring the charge transport properties of monolayer materials is defined.