Solid-phase Chalcogenization for the Synthesis of High-Quality Transition-Metal Dichalcogenide Monolayers

Transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers exhibit unique electronic, photonic, and quantum phenomena, yet their material quality remains constrained by defects and thickness inhomogeneity during chemical vapor deposition. Here, we identify the limitations of the common metal trioxide precursors: high volatility that induces stochastic vapor-phase nucleation and multilayer growth, and liberated oxygen-species-mediated chemical etchants that degrade lattice integrity. We demonstrate that an acid-mediated one-step modification, dissolving trioxides in hydrochloric acid, fundamentally redirects the precursor chemistry toward nonvolatile and substrate-anchored dioxide phase. This enforces a spatially confined solid-phase chalcogenization (SPC), minimizing the vapor-phase species and thereby suppressing dechalcogenization and vertical growth. The resulting uniform monolayers, synthesized as isolated triangular flakes or continuous films, achieve state-of-the-art low defect densities: 1.87 × 10¹² cm⁻² for MoS₂ and 1.26 × 10¹² cm⁻² for WSe₂. Our work establishes SPC as a simple and unified mechanistic framework to drive TMD synthesis toward the intrinsic structural limits.