In Situ Resonant Raman Spectroscopy to Monitor the Surface Functionalization of MoS2 and WSe2 for High-k Integration: A First-Principles Study.

Abstract

Surface functionalization of the dangling-bond-free MoS2, WSe2, and other TMDs (transition metal dichalcogenides) is of large practical importance, for example, in providing nucleation sites for the subsequent high-k dielectric integration. Of the surface functionalization methods, the reversible O or N atom adsorption on top of the chalcogen atoms is most promising. However, hazards such as severe oxidation or nitridation persist when the adsorption coverage is high. An in situ characterization technique, which can be integrated with the surface functionalization and dielectric deposition chamber, becomes valuable to enable the real-time monitoring of surface adsorption conditions. Raman spectroscopy, as a nondestructive characterization method without vacuum requirement, is a strong candidate. By utilizing first-principles calculations, Raman spectra of single-layer MoS2 and WSe2 with various O/N adsorption coverages are studied. The calculations suggest that the low-coverage O/N adsorbates will act as perturbations to the periodic lattice and activate the acoustic-phonon Raman scatterings. While high-coverage adsorptions will further activate and intensify the optical-phonon Raman scatterings of previously silent A2u and E1g modes, due to the breaking of reflection symmetry in the z direction, new phonon modes associated with the adatom oscillations are also introduced. All these pieces of evidence, together with the peak shifts of previously active A1g and E2g1 modes, suggest that in situ resonant Raman spectroscopy is capable of providing important information to quantify the O/N adsorption coverage and can be used as a valuable real-time characterization technique to monitor and control the surface functionalization conditions of MoS2 and WSe2.