Improved photoelectrical properties of MoS(2) films after laser micromachining

Direct patterning of ultrathin MoS2 films with well-defined structures and controllable thickness is appealing since the properties of MoS2 sheets are sensitive to the number of layer and surface properties. In this work, we employed a facile, effective, and well-controlled technique to achieve micropatterning of MoS2 films with a focused laser beam. We demonstrated that a direct focused laser beam irradiation was able to achieve localized modification and thinning of as-synthesized MoS2 films. With a scanning laser beam, microdomains with well-defined structures and controllable thickness were created on the same film. We found that laser modification altered the photoelectrical property of the MoS2 films, and subsequently, photodetectors with improved performance have been fabricated and demonstrated using laser modified films.