Improving the electrical performance of MoS₂ by mild oxygen plasma treatment

Two-dimensional (2D) molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is considered as a promising candidate for electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, structural defects in MoS2 are widely reported and can greatly degrade its electrical and optical properties. In this work, we investigate the structural defects in MoS2 by low temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and study their effects on the electrical performance, i.e. carrier mobility. We also adopt the mild oxygen plasma treatment to repair the structural defects and found that the carrier mobility of monolayer MoS2 can be greatly improved. This work would therefore offer a practical route to improve the performance of 2D dichalcogenide-based electrical and optoelectronic devices.