Kinetic acceleration of MoS<sub>2</sub> growth by oxy-metal-organic chemical vapor deposition.

Liu, Lei; Wang, Yushu; Dong, Ruikang; Fan, Dongxu; Meng, Si; Wu, Lang; Wu, Shengqiang; Xu, Wei et al. · Science · 2026

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Kinetics determine the growth behavior of thin films, particularly for atomically thin transition-metal dichalcogenides. Metal-organic (MO) chemical vapor deposition (CVD) offers promise for scalable growth, but the reactions are kinetically limited, leading to nanometer-scale domain size and carbon contaminations. Here, we unveil the fundamental kinetic limitations and overcome them by introducing oxygen-assisted MOCVD (oxy-MOCVD) technology. By tuning reactions with oxygen, MO precursors are converted into high-purity transition-metal oxides and chalcogens, producing aligned molybdenum disulfide (MoS<sub>2</sub>) domains with a size and growth rate that are orders of magnitude larger than conventional MOCVD. The MoS<sub>2</sub> is free of carbon impurities and exhibits average mobility exceeding 100 square centimeters per volt per second. The scalability of oxy-MOCVD is demonstrated by 150-millimeter single-crystal MoS<sub>2</sub> wafers, proving the feasibility of industrial-scale production.