Excitation intensity dependent photoluminescence of annealed two-dimensional MoS{sub 2} grown by chemical vapor deposition
Here, we present detailed results of Raman and photoluminescence (PL) characterization of monolayers of MoS{sub 2} grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on SiO{sub 2}/Si substrates after thermal annealing at 150 °C, 200 °C, and 250 °C in an argon atmosphere. In comparison to the as-grown monolayers, annealing in the temperature range of 150–250 °C brings about significant changes in the band edge luminescence. It is observed that annealing at 150 °C gives rise to a 100-fold increase in the PL intensity and produces a strong band at 1.852 eV attributed to a free-to-bound transition that dominates over the band edge excitonic luminescence. This band disappears for the higher annealing temperatures. The improvement in PL after the 200 °C anneal is reduced in comparison to that obtained after the 150 °C anneal; this is suggested to arise from a decrease in the non-radiative lifetime caused by the creation of sulfur di-vacancies. Annealing at 250 °C degrades the PL in comparison to the as-grown sample because of the onset of disorder/decomposition of the sample. It is clear that the PL features of the CVD-grown MoS{sub 2} monolayer are profoundly affected by thermal annealing in Ar atmosphere. However, further detailed studies are needed to identify, unambiguously, the role of native defects and/or adsorbed species in defining the radiative channels in annealed samples so that the beneficial effect of improvement in the optical efficiency of the MoS{sub 2} monolayers can be leveraged for various device applications.