The Improved Performance of Molybdenum Disulphide Thin-Film Transistors Operating at Low Voltages by Solution-Processed Fluorocarbon Encapsulation

We demonstrate a simple and reproducible method of solution-processed fluorocarbon encapsulation which significantly improves the device performance of molybdenum disulphide (MoS 2 ) thin-film transistors (TFTs) operating at low voltages. Using such encapsulation, the key factors of the device, such as field-effect mobility, sub-threshold swing and device-to-device uniformity were improved. This achievement is presumed to stem from the screening effect of fluorocarbon, poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE) which possesses a chemical structure with polarizable interactions of carbon–fluorine (C–F) bonds in the end groups, on the scattering of charge impurities in MoS 2 TFTs. We also investigate the Raman spectra to verify the effects of solution-processed fluorocarbon encapsulation on the structure of MoS 2 thin films where the decreases in the intensity levels of E 2g and A 1g were observed without a shift in the peak. We believe that such a screening method can be a promising approach to recover the intrinsic electrical characteristics of MoS 2 TFTs for nano-electronics with low power consumption. Graphical Abstract