Impact of the Polymer Supporting Layer on MoS ₂ Transfer and Transistor Performance

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are promising candidates as transistor channels to overcome the short-channel effect in ultimate transistor scaling, thanks to their atomically thin layer thickness. However, the transfer process of 2D TMDCs still faces challenges, including residual contamination, damage, wrinkles, and cracks, which lead to interface defects and degradation of electrical properties. These challenges are mostly influenced by the polymer supporting layer used during the 2D transfer process. In this study, we demonstrate that using polypropylene carbonate (PPC), with low adsorption energy and a large Young's modulus, instead of conventional polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) as the supporting layer, can better assist the large-area transfer of 2D molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) layers. The PPC-assisted MoS 2 transfer shows fewer particles (0.39%) and lower surface roughness (0.5 nm) of MoS 2 surface compared to PMMA-assisted transfer. Additionally, PPC-assisted transfer-based MoS 2 transistors exhibit enhanced electrical performance. The electrical enhancement is confirmed by hundreds of MoS 2 transistors, which demonstrate a remarkable increase in on-state current from 0.49 mA (PMMA-assisted transfer) to 1.51 mA (PPC-assisted transfer), the average field-effect mobility from 5.2 to 17.7 cm 2 ·V −1 ·s −1, and the current on–off ratio from ∼10 7 to ∼10 9 . The study evaluates the impact of polymer supporting layers on large-area 2D transfer from both physical and electrical perspectives, paving the way for commercialization of 2D TMDCs-based devices.