Poly(4-styrenesulfonate)-induced sulfur vacancy self-healing strategy for monolayer MoS2 homojunction photodiode

We establish a powerful poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS)-treated strategy for sulfur vacancy healing in monolayer MoS₂ to precisely and steadily tune its electronic state. The self-healing mechanism, in which the sulfur vacancies are healed spontaneously by the sulfur adatom clusters on the MoS₂ surface through a PSS-induced hydrogenation process, is proposed and demonstrated systematically. The electron concentration of the self-healed MoS₂ dramatically decreased by 643 times, leading to a work function enhancement of ∼150 meV. This strategy is employed to fabricate a high performance lateral monolayer MoS₂ homojunction which presents a perfect rectifying behaviour, excellent photoresponsivity of ∼308 mA W⁻¹ and outstanding air-stability after two months. Unlike previous chemical doping, the lattice defect-induced local fields are eliminated during the process of the sulfur vacancy self-healing to largely improve the homojunction performance. Our findings demonstrate a promising and facile strategy in 2D material electronic state modulation for the development of next-generation electronics and optoelectronics.