Growth of few layers of WS2 thin films by pulsed laser deposition

Abstract

Tungsten disulphide (WS2) is a notable material among 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) for the next generation of optoelectronic devices. Therefore, the fabrication of good quality thin films with controlled growth parameters is essential for device level applications. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) can be replacement for the conventionally used CVD technique. We report the growth of few layers of 2D WS2 thin films on Si/SiO2 substrates by PLD. A sintered WS2 target was ablated at room temperature using the fourth harmonics of Q-switched Nd:YAG laser (λ = 266 nm, pulse width = 10 ns) followed by a post deposition annealing at different temperatures. Deposited films were characterized by RAMAN, Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Controlled growth of few layers of WS2 thin films can make a remarkable change in the development of novel optoelectronic devices.