Interfacial Oxidation Unlocks Degenerate n-Doping in Monolayer MoS2.

Bianchi, Marco; Lizzit, Daniel; Turoldo, Alberto; Tosi, Ezequiel; Lacovig, Paolo; Schied, Monika; Curcio, Davide; Sanders, Charlotte E et al. · Nano Lett · 2026

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Recent advances in interface engineering have overcome high contact resistance in 2D semiconductor devices by modifying band alignment and carrier density of transition metal dichalcogenide contacts, including through group-V semimetals and charge-transfer doping. Combining photoelectron spectroscopy, diffraction, and microscopy, we demonstrate that placing single-layer MoS2 in contact with a pristine Bi layer results only in weak n-doping and no detectable conduction-band occupation, whereas oxidation of the Bi layer produces a pronounced occupation of the MoS2 conduction band with an electron density on the order of 1013 cm-2. We attribute this strong n-type charge transfer to the formation of an ultrathin β-Bi2O3-like layer with an unusually low effective work function, consistent with our measurements and calculations for an ideal Bi-terminated β-Bi2O3(201) surface. These results establish interfacial oxidation as a means to engineer strong n-type charge transfer at transition metal dichalcogenide interfaces and motivate future transport studies of oxide-mediated contact architectures.