Effects of Deposition and Annealing Temperature on the Structure and Optical Band Gap of MoS₂ Films

• Main Authors: Gongying Chen, Benchu Lu, Xinyu Cui, Jianrong Xiao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-12-01
• Series: Materials
• Subjects: molybdenum disulfide films; magnetron sputtering; deposition temperature; crystal structure; optical band gap
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/13/23/5515

In this study, molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) film samples were prepared at different temperatures and annealed through magnetron sputtering technology. The surface morphology, crystal structure, bonding structure, and optical properties of the samples were characterized and analyzed. The surface of the MoS₂ films prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering is tightly coupled and well crystallized, the density of the films decreases, and their voids and grain size increase with the increase in deposition temperature. The higher the deposition temperature is, the more stable the MoS₂ films deposited will be, and the 200 °C deposition temperature is an inflection point of the film stability. Annealing temperature affects the structure of the films, which is mainly related to sulfur and the growth mechanism of the films. Further research shows that the optical band gaps of the films deposited at different temperatures range from 0.92 eV to 1.15 eV, showing semiconductor bandgap characteristics. The optical band gap of the films deposited at 200 °C is slightly reduced after annealing in the range of 0.71–0.91 eV. After annealing, the optical band gap of the films decreases because of the two exciton peaks generated by the K point in the Brillouin zone of MoS₂. The blue shift of the K point in the Brillouin zone causes a certain change in the optical band gap of the films.