Black Phosphorus-Molybdenum Disulfide Hetero-Junctions Formed with Ink-Jet Printing for Potential Solar Cell Applications with Indium-Tin-Oxide

• Main Authors: Ravindra Ketan Mehta, Anupama Bhat Kaul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
• Series: Crystals
• Subjects: black phosphorus; MoS₂; liquid exfoliation; mechanical exfoliation; inkjet-printing; Raman spectroscopy
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/11/5/560

In this work, we implemented liquid exfoliation to inkjet-print two-dimensional (2D) black phosphorous (BP) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) p–n heterojunctions on a standard indium tin oxide (ITO) glass substrate in a vertical architecture. We also compared the optical and electrical properties of the inkjet-printed BP layer with that of the MoS₂ and the electrical properties of the mechanically exfoliated MoS₂ with that of the inkjet-printed MoS₂. We found significant differences in the optical characteristics of the inkjet-printed BP and MoS₂ layers attributed to the differences in their underlying crystal structure. The newly demonstrated liquid exfoliated and inkjet-printed BP–MoS₂ 2D p–n junction was also compared with previous reports where mechanically exfoliated BP–MoS₂ 2D p–n junction were used. The electronic transport properties of mechanically exfoliated MoS₂ membranes are typically better compared to inkjet-printed structures but inkjet printing offers a cost-effective and quicker way to fabricate heterostructures easily. In the future, the performance of inkjet-printed structures can be further improved by employing suitable contact materials, amongst other factors such as modifying the solvent chemistries. The architecture reported in this work has potential applications towards building solar cells with solution processed 2D materials in the future.