Enhancing photodetector performance of MoS2 thin films by nitrogen ion irradiation

In this work, MoS2 thin films were grown on a Si substrate using RF sputtering, and subsequently subjected to nitrogen ion irradiation with varying ion fluence. The Raman spectroscopy observed the oxygen doping into MoS2 lattice and induced shift in E2g and A1g vibration modes, along with a decrease in the interdefect distance (LD) after ion irradiation. The evolution of oxygen into MoS2 sample after ion irradiation was confirmed by XPS. The incorporation of oxygen in the MoS2 is due to the bond breaking of the surface layers of the material due to ion irradiation, which creates dangling bonds. These bonds in the MoS2 are more reactive with the oxygen and lead to the formation of MoOx species on the surface of the material. The Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) provides the morphological study of post-irradiation samples. As ion fluence increases, the optical bandgap decreases from 1.46 eV to 1.33 eV. Using current-voltage (I–V) characteristics, the electrical properties of the irradiated films were characterized, along with photodetector measurements. This combined analysis provided a comprehensive understanding of the film's electrical behaviour, shedding light on their post-irradiation performance. Our results demonstrate that due to oxygen doped into MoS2/Si thin film significantly affects the barrier height, ideality factor, and carrier concentration in I–V characteristics. Taking silicon-based and n-type MoS2 heterojunction photodetectors, its photoresponsivity can reach ∼14.7 mA/W at 7.19 × 1016 ion-cm−2 ion fluence. Our findings provide insights into the tunability of the electrical properties of MoS2/Si thin films through ion irradiation, which has implications for the development of novel electronic and optoelectronic devices based on MoS2/Si thin film.