Unraveling the Mechanism of the 150-Fold Photocurrent Enhancement in Plasma-Treated 2D TMDs

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are increasingly investigated for applications such as optoelectronic memories, artificial neurons, sensors, and others that require storing photogenerated signals for an extended period. In this work, we report an environment- and gate voltage-dependent photocurrent modulation method of TMD monolayer-based devices (WS₂ and MoS₂). To achieve this, we introduce structural defects using mild argon-oxygen plasma treatment. The treatment leads to an extraordinary over 150-fold enhancement of the photocurrent in vacuum along with an increase in the relaxation time. A significant environmental and electrostatic dependence of the photocurrent signal is observed. We claim that the effect is a combined result of atomic vacancy introduction and oxide formation, strengthened by optimal wavelength choice for the modified surface. We believe that this work contributes to paving the way for tunable 2D TMD optoelectronic applications.