Stabilization of the Nano-Sized 1T Phase through Rhenium Doping in the Metal-Organic CVD MoS₂ Films

Heterogeneous nanostructures composed of metastable tetragonal 1T-MoS₂ and stable hexagonal 2H-MoS₂ phases are highly promising for a wide range of applications, including catalysis and ion batteries, due to the high electrical conductivity and catalytic activity of the 1T phase. However, a controllable synthesis of stabilized 1T-MoS₂ films over the wafer-scale area is challenging. In this work, a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition process allowing us to obtain ultrathin MoS₂ films containing both 1T and 2H phases and control their ratio through rhenium doping was suggested. As a result, Mo_1-ReS₂ films with a 1T-MoS₂ fraction up to ≈30% were obtained, which were relatively stable under normal conditions for a long time. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy also indicated that the 1T-MoS₂ phase fraction increased with rhenium concentration increase saturating at Re concentrations above 5 at. %. Also, its concentration was found to significantly affect the film resistivity. Thus, the resistivity of the film containing approximately 30% of the 1T phase was about 130 times lower than that of the film without the 1T phase.