# Single crystals of the layered dichalcogenides MoS2 and WS2 grown by liquid phase transport

## TL;DR

This paper reports a method for growing high-quality single crystals of MoS2 and WS2 using a liquid salt flux, with detailed characterization showing high crystallinity and minimal intergrowths, and improved optical properties for MoS2.

## Contribution

It introduces a liquid phase transport method for growing layered dichalcogenide crystals with enhanced crystallinity and minimal intergrowths.

## Key findings

- Crystals are predominantly 2H-MoS2 with ~3% 3R intergrowths.
- WS2 crystals show less than 1% 3R intergrowths.
- MoS2 crystals exhibit superior photoluminescence compared to commercial samples.

## Abstract

The growth of single crystals of MoS2 and WS2 by materials transport through a liquid salt flux made from a low melting mixture of NaCl and CsCl is described. The crystals are characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, which reveals that they are 2H-MoS2 with a small percentage (about 3%) of 3R intergrowths. The 2H-WS2 crystals display less than 1% of 3R intergrowths. Photoluminescence spectra of exfoliated monolayers suggest that MoS2 grown by this method has superior crystallinity in comparison to commercially-available MoS2 crystals.

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1906.06769