High-performance monolayer MoS2 photodetector enabled by oxide stress liner using scalable chemical vapor growth method

MoS2, as a typical representative of two-dimensional semiconductors, has been explored extensively in applications of optoelectronic devices because of its adjustable bandgap. However, to date, the performance of the fabricated photodetectors has been very sensitive to the surrounding environment owing to the large surface-to-volume ratio. In this work, we report on large-scale, high-performance monolayer MoS2 photodetectors covered with a 3-nm Al2O3 layer grown by atomic layer deposition. In comparison with the device without the Al2O3 stress liner, both the photocurrent and responsivity are improved by over 10 times under 460-nm light illumination, which is due to the tensile strain induced by the Al2O3 layer. Further characterization demonstrated state-of-the-art performance of the device with a responsivity of 16.103 A W−1, gain of 191.80, NEP of 7.96 × 10−15 W Hz−1/2, and detectivity of 2.73 × 1010 Jones. Meanwhile, the response rise time of the photodetector also reduced greatly because of the increased electron mobility and reduced surface defects due to the Al2O3 stress liner. Our results demonstrate the potential application of large-scale strained monolayer MoS2 photodetectors in next-generation imaging systems.