Surface Defects on Natural MoS2

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are being considered for a variety of electronic and optoelectronic devices such as beyond complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) switches, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, as well as sensors, among others. Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is the most studied of the TMDs in part because of its availability in the natural or geological form. The performance of most devices is strongly affected by the intrinsic defects in geological MoS2. Indeed, most sources of current transition metal dichalcogenides have defects, including many impurities. The variability in the electrical properties of MoS2 across the surface of the same crystal has been shown to be correlated with local variations in stoichiometry as well as metallic-like and structural defects. The presence of impurities has also been suggested to play a role in determining the Fermi level in MoS2. The main focus of this work is to highlight a number of intrinsic defects detected on natural, exfoliated MoS2 crystals from two different sources that have been often used in previous reports for device fabrication. We employed room temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS), as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to study the pristine surface of MoS2(0001) immediately after exfoliation. ICPMS used to measure the concentration of impurity elements can in part explain the local contrast behavior observed in STM images. This work highlights that the high concentration of surface defects and impurity atoms may explain the variability observed in the electrical and physical characteristics of MoS2.