Investigating Laser-Induced Phase Engineering in MoS2 Transistors

Phase engineering of MoS2 transistors has recently been demonstrated and has led to record low contact resistances. The phase patterning of MoS2 flakes with laser radiation has also been realized via spectroscopic methods, which invites the potential of controlling the metallic and semiconducting phases of MoS2 transistors by simple light exposure. Nevertheless, the fabrication and demonstration of laser-patterned MoS2 devices starting from the metallic polymorph have not been demonstrated yet. Here, we study the effects of laser radiation on 1T/1T'-MoS2 transistors with the prospect of driving an in situ phase transition to the 2H-polymorph through light exposure. We find that although the Raman peaks of 2H-MoS2 become more prominent and the ones from the 1T/1T' phase fade after the laser exposure, the semiconducting properties of the laser-patterned devices are not fully restored, and the laser treatment ultimately leads to the degradation of the transport channel.