Strain induced study on MoS2 thin films due to ion and gamma irradiation

•Defect induced in MoS2 nanosheets due to ion irradiation and gamma irradiation.•Radiation induced strain analyzed and evaluated using XRD and Raman spectroscopy.•Defects formation due to ion irradiation are high as compared to gamma irradiation. Single step hydrothermal method was used to synthesize molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) thin films. The hexagonal structure of MoS2 was confirmed by X-ray diffraction techniques (XRD). The nanosheets like morphology of MoS2 films were confirmed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The optical band gap of pristine MoS2 was found to be ~1.53 eV. The prepared MoS2 films were irradiated with ion and gamma radiation at different ion fluence and doses respectively. For ion irradiation, the samples were irradiated at ion fluences of 4.7 × 1016 ion/cm2, 7.1 × 1016 ion/cm2, 9.5 × 1016 ion/cm2, 11.9 × 1016 ion/cm2 and 14.3 × 1016 ion/cm2. In case of gamma irradiation, the samples were irradiated for 10 kGy, 100 kGy, 300 kGy, and 500 kGy and 800 kGy doses. The tensile strain induced in the sample was studied with the help of Raman spectroscopy and XRD technique. The defect induced tensile strain in MoS2 films due to ion irradiation is higher as compared to gamma irradiation.