Correlative morphology effects on surface characteristics of hydrophilic h-MoS2 thin films

Abstract

Recently, two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) materials have gained significant attention due to their potential applications in gas sensing, energy storage, and optoelectronics. One of the key advantages of TMDs lies in their tunable properties with growth parameters, thereby improving the performance of specific applications. This study focuses on the impact of sputtering time on the growth of different surface morphologies. Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) thin films have been synthesized on a silicon (100) substrate using a DC sputtering technique to evaluate the effects of growth parameters. The findings indicate the sputtering time-dependent surface morphologies, as confirmed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) results. An increase in the sputtering time leads to a transformation of the nanosphere surface structure into a nanoworms structure due to the surface particle aggregations. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results confirm the hexagonal phase (H) of MoS₂, while the Raman measurement validates the formation of multilayer thin films. Furthermore, the wetting properties of the resulting structures are evaluated using contact angle tests, and the experimental results are validated using the theoretical Wenzel and Cassie models. Consequently, the growth parameters-based tunability in surface structure may significantly enhance the performance of TMDs-based materials in practical applications.