Sensor behavior of MoS₂ field-effect transistor with light injection toward chemical recognition

The application of field-effect transistor (FET) devices with atomically thin channels as sensors has attracted significant attention, where the adsorption of atoms/molecules on the channels can be detected by the change in the properties of FET. Thus, to further enhance the chemical sensitivity of FETs, we developed a method to distinguish the chemical properties of adsorbates from the electric behavior of FET devices. Herein, we explored the variation in the FET properties of an MoS₂-FET upon visible light injection and the effect of molecule adsorption for chemical recognition. By injecting light, the drain current (I _d) increased from the light-off state, which is defined as (ΔI _d)_ph. We examined this effect using CuPc molecules deposited on the channel. The (ΔI _d)_ph vs. wavelength continuous spectrum in the visible region showed a peak at the energy for the excitation from the highest occupied orbital (HOMO) to the molecule-induced state (MIS). The energy position and the intensity of this feature showed a sensitive variation with the adsorption of the CuPc molecule and are in good agreement with previously reported photo-absorption spectroscopy data, indicating that this technique can be employed for chemical recognition.