Electron mobility in monolayer WS2 encapsulated in hexagonal boron-nitride

Abstract

We report electron transport measurements in dual-gated monolayer WS2 encapsulated in hexagonal boron-nitride. Using gated Ohmic contacts that operate from room temperature down to 1.5 K, we measure the intrinsic conductivity and carrier density as a function of temperature and gate bias. Intrinsic electron mobilities of 100 cm2/(V s) at room temperature and 2000 cm2/(V s) at 1.5 K are achieved. The mobility shows a strong temperature dependence at high temperatures, consistent with phonon scattering dominated carrier transport. At low temperature, the mobility saturates due to impurity and long-range Coulomb scattering. First-principles calculations of phonon scattering in monolayer WS2 are in good agreement with the experimental results, showing we approach the intrinsic limit of transport in these two-dimensional layers.