Oxygen-guided process reportedly forms MoS₂ single crystals at 397 of 400 sites

Suppressing nucleation outside each region’s center

Researchers at KAIST and TDS Innovation described a process in which oxygen released from an oxide barrier creates a lateral etching flux. The flux suppresses new crystal formation except at the center of each patterned growth region. They reported working molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) field-effect transistors and higher charge-carrier mobility than previously reported for selectively grown MoS₂ transistors.

According to the article, 2D semiconductor crystals typically began forming at random sites within a growth region. Multiple crystals could then meet and form boundaries that reduce electrical performance and uniformity.

The team reported that its etching-flux-mediated single-centred nucleation process confined crystal formation to the geometric center of patterned regions. In a test on a two-centimeter substrate, it produced single crystals at 397 of 400 sites, or 99.3 percent.

The distance from laboratory FETs to commercial production

Controlling where one crystal begins in each patterned region could address a manufacturing obstacle for atomically thin semiconductor materials. The result is a laboratory demonstration, not commercial chip production; TDS Innovation said it is aiming for commercial use around 2030, subject to further validation.