Wafer-scale epitaxial growth of single orientation WS2 monolayers on sapphire

Realization of wafer-scale single-crystal films of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) such as tungsten sulfide requires epitaxial growth and coalescence of oriented domains to form a continuous monolayer. The domains must be oriented in the same crystallographic direction on the substrate to avoid the formation of metallic inversion domain boundaries (IDBs) which are a common feature of layered chalcogenides. Here we demonstrate fully-coalesced single orientation tungsten sulfide monolayers on 2-inch diameter c-plane sapphire by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition using a multi-step growth process. High growth temperatures and sulfur/metal ratios were required to reduce domain misorientation and achieve epitaxial tungsten sulfide monolayers with low in-plane rotational twist (0.09 deg). Transmission electron microscopy analysis reveals that the tungsten sulfide monolayers lack IDBs but instead have translational boundaries that arise when tungsten sulfide domains with slightly off-set lattices merge together. By adjusting the monolayer growth rate, the density of translational boundaries and bilayer coverage were significantly reduced. The preferred orientation of domains is attributed to the presence of steps on the sapphire surface coupled with growth conditions promote surface diffusion and oriented attachment. The transferred tungsten sulfide monolayers show neutral and charged exciton emission at 80K with negligible defect-related luminescence. Back-gated tungsten sulfide field effect transistors exhibited mobility of 16 cm2/Vs. The results demonstrate the potential of achieving wafer-scale TMD monolayers free of inversion domains with properties approaching that of exfoliated flakes.