Near-unity photoluminescence quantum yield in MoS2

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides have emerged as a promising material system for optoelectronic applications, but their primary figure of merit, the room-temperature photoluminescence quantum yield (QY), is extremely low.The prototypical 2D material molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is reported to have a maximum QYof 0.6%, which indicates a considerable defect density. Herewe report on an air-stable, solution-based chemical treatment by an organic superacid, which uniformly enhances the photoluminescence and minority carrier lifetime of MoS2 monolayers by more than two orders of magnitude.The treatment eliminates defect-mediated nonradiative recombination, thus resulting in a finalQYofmore than 95%, with a longest-observed lifetime of 10.8 0.6 nanoseconds. Our ability to obtain optoelectronic monolayers with near-perfect properties opens the door for the development of highly efficient light-emitting diodes, lasers, and solar cells based on 2D materials.