Epitaxial growth of metal-semiconductor van der Waals heterostructures NbS₂/MoS₂ with enhanced performance of transistors and photodetectors

Two-dimensional (2D) heterostructures based on layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted increasing attention for the applications of the next-generation high-performance integrated electronics and optoelectronics. Although various TMD heterostructures have been successfully fabricated, epitaxial growth of such atomically thin metal-semiconductor heterostructures with a clean and sharp interface is still challenging. In addition, photodetectors based on such heterostructures have seldom been studied. Here, we report the synthesis of high-quality vertical NbS₂/MoS₂ metallic-semiconductor heterostructures. By using NbS₂ as the contact electrodes, the field-effect mobility and current on-off ratio of MoS₂ can be improved at least 6-fold and two orders of magnitude compared with the conventional Ti/Au contact, respectively. By using NbS₂ as contact, the photodetector performance of MoS₂ is much improved with higher responsivity and less response time. Such facile synthesis of atomically thin metal-semiconductor heterostructures by a simple chemical vapor deposition strategy and its effectiveness as ultrathin 2D metal contact open the door for the future application of electronics and optoelectronics.