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The interest in two-dimensional materials and materials physics has grown dramatically over the past decade. The family of two-dimensional materials, which includes graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, phosphorene, hexagonal boron nitride, etc., can be fabricated into atomically thin films since the intralayer bonding arises from their strong covalent character, while the interlayer interaction is mediated by weak van der Waals forces. Among them, molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) has attracted much interest for its potential applications in opto-electronic and valleytronics devices. Previously, much of the experimental studies have concentrated on optical and transport measurements while neglecting direct experimental determination of the electronic structure of MoS₂, which is crucial to the full understanding of its distinctive properties. In particular, like other atomically thin materials, the interactions with substrate impact the surface structure and morphology of MoS₂, and as a result, its structural and physical properties can be affected. In this dissertation, the electronic structure and surface structure of MoS₂ are directly investigated using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and cathode lens microscopy. Local-probe angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements of monolayer, bilayer, trilayer, and bulk MoS₂ directly demonstrate the indirect-to-direct bandgap transition due to quantum confinement as the MoS₂ thickness is decreased from multilayer to monolayer. The evolution of the interlayer coupling in this transition is also investigated using density functional theory calculations. Also, the thickness-dependent surface roughness is characterized using selected-area low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and the surface structural relaxation is investigated using LEED I-V measurements combined with dynamical LEED calculations. Finally, bandgap engineering is demonstrated via tuning of the interlayer interactions in van der Waals interfaces by twisting the relative orientation in bilayer-MoS₂ and graphene-MoS₂-heterostructure systems.

MoS2, among many other transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), holds great promise for future applications in nano-electronics, opto-electronics and mechanical devices due to its ultra-thin nature, flexibility, sizable band-gap, and unique spin-valley coupled physics. However, there are two main challenges that hinder careful study of this material. Firstly, it is hard to achieve Ohmic contacts to mono-layer MoS2, particularly at low temperatures (T) and low carrier densities. Secondly, materials' low quality and impurities introduced during the fabrication significantly limit the electron mobility of mono- and few-layer MoS2 to be substantially below theoretically predicted limits, which has hampered efforts to observe its novel quantum transport behaviours. Traditional low work function metals doesn't necessary provide good electron injection to thin MoS2 due to metal oxidation, Fermi level pinning, etc. To address the first challenge, we tried multiple contact schemes and found that mono-layer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and cobalt (Co) provide robust Ohmic contact. The mono-layer spacer serves two advantageous purposes: it strongly interacts with the transition metal, reducing its work function by over 1 eV; and breaks the metal-TMDCs interaction to eliminate the interfacial states that cause Fermi level pinning. We measure a flat-band Schottky barrier of 16 meV, which makes thin tunnel barriers upon doping the channels, and thus achieve low-T contact resistance of 3 kohm.um at a carrier density of 5.3x10^12/cm^2. Similar to graphene, eliminating all potential sources of disorder and scattering is the key to achieving high performance in MoS2 devices. We developed a van der Waals heterostructure device platform where MoS2 layers are fully encapsulated within h-BN and electrically contacted in a multi-terminal geometry using gate-tunable graphene electrodes. The h-BN-encapsulation provides excellent protection from environmental factors, resulting in highly stable device performance, even at elevated temperatures. Both optical and electrical characterization confirms our high quality devices, including an ultra-clean interface, a record-high Hall mobility reaching 34,000 cm^2/Vs, and first observation of Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations. The development of Ohmic contact and fabrication of high quality devices are critical to MoS2 application and studying its intrinsic properties. Therefore, the progress made in this work will facilitate efforts to study novel physical phenomena of MoS2 that were not accessible before.

Adaptive coatings are an important development in tribology. These coatings widen the range at which solid lubricants are useful in various environments. In this paper, coatings founded on molybdenum nitride are studied, with a focus on thermal cycling. These coatings were fabricated by unbalanced magnetron sputtering and characterized with techniques including x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and pin-on-disk tribometer. The results of two sets of coatings are reported. The first set of coatings is a nanocomposite of Mo2N/MoS2/Me (Me = Ag, Au, Cu). The second is a complex multi-layer system of Mo2N/Ag and a diffusion barrier of TiN which has been etched, then filled and coated with a layer of MoS2. After heating, these compounds produced silver molybdates. The Mo2N/MoS2/Ag nanocomposite shows promise with a 0.02 coefficient of friction at room temperature, while the multi-layer system eventually equilibrated at approximately 0.6. At high temperatures, again the nanocomposite was better, producing a 0.25 frictional coefficient compared to a 0.3 from the multilayer system. These results provide insight into what is needed to achieve thermal cycling.

The behavior of 2D materials has become of great interest in the wake of development of electrochemical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) and the discovery of monolayer graphene by Geim and Novoselov. This study aims to analyze the response variance of 2D electrode materials for EDLCs prepared through the liquid-phase exfoliation method when subjected to differing conditions. Once exfoliated, samples are tested with a series of structural characterization methods, including tunneling electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A new ionic liquid for EDLC use, 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate is compared in performance to 6M potassium hydroxide aqueous electrolyte. Devices composed of liquid-phase exfoliated graphene / MoS2 composites are analyzed by concentration for ideal performance. Device performance under cold extreme temperatures for the ionic fluid is presented as well. A brief overview of by-layer analysis of graphene electrode materials is presented as-is. All samples were tested with cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, with good capacitive results. The evolution of electrochemical behavior through the altered parameters is tracked as well.

Since the scotch-tape isolation of graphene, two-dimensional (2D) materials have been studied with increasing enthusiasm. Two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides are of particular interest as atomically thin semiconductors. These materials are naturally transparent in their few-layer form, have direct band gaps in their monolayer form, exhibit extraordinary absorption, and demonstrate unique physics, making them promising for efficient and novel optical devices. Due to the two-dimensional nature of the materials, their properties are highly susceptible to the environment above and below the 2D films. It is critical to understand the influences of this environment on the properties of 2D materials and on the performance parameters of devices made with the materials. For transparent optical devices requiring electrical contacts and gates, the effect of transparent conducting oxides on the optical properties of 2D semiconductors is of particular importance. The ability to tune the optical properties of 2D transition-metal dichalcogenides could allow for improved control of the emission or absorption wavelength of optical devices made with the materials. Continuously tuning the optical properties of these materials would be advantageous for variable wavelength devices such as photodetectors or light emitters. This thesis systematically investigates the intrinsic structural and optical properties of two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenide films, the effect of substrate-based optical interference on the optical emission properties of the materials, and demonstrates methods to controllably tune the luminescence emission of the materials for future optical applications. This thesis advances the study of these materials toward integration in future efficient and novel optical devices. The specific transition metal dichalcogenides investigated here are molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2), tungsten disulfide (WS2), and tungsten diselenide (WSe2). The thickness-dependence of the intrinsic in-plane crystal structure of these materials is elucidated with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy; thickness-dependent optical properties are studied using Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopies. This thesis investigates the optical interference effects from substrates with transparent conducting oxide layers on the optical properties of few-layer MoS2 films. An understanding of these effects is critical for integrating MoS2 into efficient optical devices. We predict contributions of optical interference effects to the luminescence emission of few-layer MoS2 films. The predictions are experimentally verified. We also demonstrate the use of optical interference effects to tune the wavelength and intensity of the luminescence emission of few-layer MoS2. This thesis explores the use of electric fields applied perpendicular to the films to continuously and reversibly tune the band gap of few-layer MoS2 for future variable wavelength devices. To facilitate integration into devices, we demonstrate electric fieldinduced band gap tuning by applying electric fields with a pair of transparent or semitransparent conducting layers, and without the need for direct electrical contact to the MoS2 films. The observed band gap tuning is attributed to the Stark Effect. We discuss challenges to maximizing the effect of electric field-induced band gap tuning. We demonstrate that optical interference effects do not prevent observation of band gap tuning via applied electric fields. We successfully combine two luminescence emission tuning methods: optical interference effects and electric field effects.

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abstract: A highly uniform and repeatable method for synthesizing the single-layer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) molybdenum disulfide, MoS2, and tungsten disulfide, WS2, was developed. This method employed chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of precursors in a custom built cold-wall reaction chamber designed to allow independent control over the growth parameters. Iterations of this reaction chamber were employed to overcome limitations to the growth method. First, molybdenum trioxide, MoO3, and S were co-evaporated from alumina coated W baskets to grow MoS2 on SiO2/Si substrates. Using this method, films were found to have repeatable coverage, but unrepeatable morphology. Second, the reaction chamber was modified to include a pair of custom bubbler delivery systems to transport diethyl sulfide (DES) and molybdenum hexacarbonyl (MHC) to the substrate as a S and Mo precursors. Third, tungsten hexacarbonyl (WHC) replaced MHC as a transition metal precursor for the synthesis of WS2 on Al2O3, substrates. This method proved repeatable in both coverage and morphology allowing the investigation of the effect of varying the flow of Ar, varying the substrate temperature and varying the flux of DES to the sample. Increasing each of these parameters was found to decrease the nucleation density on the sample and, with the exception of the Ar flow, induce multi-layer feature growth. This combination of precursors was also used to investigate the reported improvement in feature morphology when NaCl is placed upstream of the substrate. This was found to have no effect on experiments in the configurations used. A final effort was made to adequately increase the feature size by switching from DES to hydrogen sulfide, H2S, as a source of S. Using H2S and WHC to grow WS2 films on Al2O3, it was found that increasing the substrate temperature and increasing the H2S flow both decrease nucleation density. Increasing the H2S flow induced bi-layer growth. Ripening of synthesized WS2 crystals was demonstrated to occur when the sample was annealed, post-growth, in an Ar, H2, and H2S flow. Finally, it was verified that the final H2S and WHC growth method yielded repeatability and uniformity matching, or improving upon, the other methods and precursors investigated. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Physics 2019

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The aim of this thesis is to advance the field of solid lubrication science by developing coatings that provide reliable performance in ambient conditions, work on rough surfaces, and are amenable to industrial size and design complexities. Two different coating systems, Ti3C2Tx-MoS2 and Ti3C2Tx-Graphene Oxide blends, were studied in this work. The Ti3C2Tx-MoS2 nanocomposites were spray-coated onto rough 52100-grade steel surfaces, and their tribological performance was evaluated in a ball-on-disk configuration in a unidirectional sliding mode. The test results indicate that Ti3C2Tx-MoS2 coatings achieved superlubricity, which has not been previously reported for either pristine material under macroscale sliding conditions. The observed synergistic mechanism enabled the superlative performance, which was explained by the in-situ formation of a robust tribolayer responsible for sustained lubricity even at high contact pressures (>1.1 GPa) and sliding speeds (0.1 m/s). Processing, structure, and property correlation studies were conducted to understand the underlying phenomena. Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used to reveal the formation of the tribolayer. The Ti3C2Tx-Graphene Oxide blends were also spray-coated onto rough-bearing steel surfaces, and their tribological assessment was carried out in ambient environmental conditions and high contact pressures in a ball-on-disc experimental setup. The coatings led to substantial friction reduction compared to uncoated and single-component-coated surfaces, with a friction coefficient as low as 0.065 at 1 GPa contact pressure and 100 mm/s sliding speed, surpassing the state-of-the-art. The coatings also provided excellent protection against wear loss of the substrate and counter-face. The results were explained based on the observations from Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and nanoindentation measurements. The in-operando formation of a dense, hard, and stiff tribolayer was observed, which was responsible for the sustained lubricity even at high test loads and sliding speeds. This thesis presents a holistic exploration and correlation of structure-property-processing for the advancement of solid lubrication science. It provides insights into the development of solid lubricant materials and their tribological performance, which can be useful for various industrial applications.