Dispersive growth and laser-induced rippling of large-area singlelayer MoS2 nanosheets by CVD on c-plane sapphire substrate

Vapor-phase growth of large-area two-dimensional (2D) MoS2 nanosheets via reactions of sulfur with MoO3 precursors vaporized and transferred from powder sources onto a target substrate has been rapidly progressing. Recent studies revealed that the growth yield of high quality singlelayer (SL) MoS2 is essentially controlled by quite a few parameters including the temperature, the pressure, the amount/weight of loaded source precursors, and the cleanup of old precursors. Here, we report a dispersive growth method where a shadow mask is encapsulated on the substrate to 'indirectly' supply the source precursors onto the laterally advancing growth front at elevated temperatures. With this method, we have grown large-area (up to millimeters) SL-MoS2 nanosheets with a collective in-plane orientation on c-plane sapphire substrates. Regular ripples (~1 nm in height and ~50 nm in period) have been induced by laser scanning into the SL-MoS2 nanosheets. The MoS2 ripples easily initiate at the grain boundaries and extend along the atomic steps of the substrate. Such laser-induced ripple structures can be fundamental materials for studying their effects, which have been predicted to be significant but hitherto not evidenced, on the electronic, mechanical, and transport properties of SL-MoS2.