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Direct laser patterning of two-dimensional lateral transition metal disulfide-oxide-disulfide heterostructures for ultrasensitive sensors

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Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) heterostructures based on the combination of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and transition metal oxides (TMOs) have aroused growing attention due to their integrated merits of both components and multiple functionalities. However, nondestructive approaches of constructing TMD-TMO heterostructures are still very limited. Here, we develop a novel type of lateral TMD-TMO heterostructure (NbS2-Nb2O5-NbS2) using a simple lithography-free, direct laser-patterning technique. The perfect contact of an ultrathin TMO channel (Nb2O5) with two metallic TMDs (NbS2) electrodes guarantee strong electrical signals in a two-terminal sensor. Distinct from sensing mechanisms in separate TMOs or TMDs, this sensor works based on the modulation of surface conduction of the ultrathin TMO (Nb2O5) channel through an adsorbed layer of water molecules. The sensor thus exhibits high selectivity and ultrahigh sensitivity for room-temperature detection of NH3 (ΔR/R = 80% at 50 ppm), superior to the reported NH3 sensors based on 2D materials, and a positive temperature coefficient of resistance as high as 15%–20%/°C. Bending-invariant performance and high reliability are also demonstrated in flexible versions of sensors. Our work provides a new strategy of lithography-free processing of novel TMD-TMO heterostructures towards high-performance sensors, showing great potential in the applications of future portable and wearable electronics.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Yadong Li and Prof. Xiaofeng Feng for their helpful discussions. This work was financially supported by Basic Science Center Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No. 51788104), the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFA0208400), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51972193 and 11774191), and Fok Ying-Tong Education Foundation (No. 161042)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Bolun Wang, Hao Luo, Xuewen Wang, Enze Wang, Yufei Sun & Kai Liu

  2. Department of Physics and Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Yu-Chien Tsai, Peng Liu, Kaili Jiang & Shoushan Fan

  3. State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Jinxuan Dong, Yong Xu, Kaili Jiang & Shoushan Fan

  4. Department of Precision Instrument, Center for Brain Inspired Computing Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Huanglong Li

  5. RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Wako, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan

    Yong Xu

  6. School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA

    Sefaattin Tongay

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  1. Bolun Wang
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  2. Hao Luo
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Correspondence to Kai Liu.

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Direct laser patterning of two-dimensional lateral transition metal disulfide-oxide-disulfide heterostructures for ultrasensitive sensors

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Wang, B., Luo, H., Wang, X. et al. Direct laser patterning of two-dimensional lateral transition metal disulfide-oxide-disulfide heterostructures for ultrasensitive sensors. Nano Res. 13, 2035–2043 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-2872-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-2872-z

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