NaCl-assisted one-step growth of MoS₂-WS₂ in-plane heterostructures

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted considerable interest for exploration of next-generation electronics and optoelectronics in recent years. Fabrication of in-plane lateral heterostructures between TMDs has opened up excellent opportunities for engineering two-dimensional materials. The creation of high quality heterostructures with a facile method is highly desirable but it still remains challenging. In this work, we demonstrate a one-step growth method for the construction of high-quality MoS₂-WS₂ in-plane heterostructures. The synthesis was carried out using ambient pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) with the assistance of sodium chloride (NaCl). It was found that the addition of NaCl played a key role in lowering the growth temperatures, in which the Na-containing precursors could be formed and condensed on the substrates to reduce the energy of the reaction. As a result, the growth regimes of MoS₂ and WS₂ are better matched, leading to the formation of in-plane heterostructures in a single step. The heterostructures were proved to be of high quality with a sharp and clear interface. This newly developed strategy with the assistance of NaCl is promising for synthesizing other TMDs and their heterostructures.