Reale, FFRealePalczynski, PPPalczynskiAmit, IIAmitJones, GFGFJonesMehew, JDJDMehewBacon, AABaconNi, NNNiSherrell, PCPCSherrellAgnoli, SSAgnoliCraciun, MFMFCraciunRusso, SSRussoMattevi, CCMattevi2017-10-262017-11-022017-11-02Scientific Reports, 2017, 7 (1), pp.1-102045-2322http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/52409The rise of atomically thin materials has the potential to enable a paradigm shift in modern technologies by introducing multi-functional materials in the semiconductor industry. To date the growth of high quality atomically thin semiconductors (e.g. WS2) is one of the most pressing challenges to unleash the potential of these materials and the growth of mono- or bi-layers with high crystal quality is yet to see its full realization. Here, we show that the novel use of molecular precursors in the controlled synthesis of mono- and bi-layer WS2 leads to superior material quality compared to the widely used direct sulfidization of WO3-based precursors. Record high room temperature charge carrier mobility up to 52 cm2/Vs and ultra-sharp photoluminescence linewidth of just 36 meV over submillimeter areas demonstrate that the quality of this material supersedes also that of naturally occurring materials. By exploiting surface diffusion kinetics of W and S species adsorbed onto a substrate, a deterministic layer thickness control has also been achieved promoting the design of scalable synthesis routes.This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Te images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. © The Author(s) 2017Science & TechnologyMultidisciplinary SciencesScience & Technology - Other TopicsTRANSITION-METAL DICHALCOGENIDESCHEMICAL-VAPOR-DEPOSITIONMONOLAYER WS2SINGLE-LAYERELECTRONIC-STRUCTUREVALLEY POLARIZATIONGROWTHFILMSMOS2PHOTOLUMINESCENCEcond-mat.mtrl-scicond-mat.mtrl-sciJournal Articlehttps://www.dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-14928-2https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-14928-2EP/L003481/1EP/K033840/1EP/K016792/1EP/K01658X/1EP/M022250/1