Physical vapor deposition-free scalable high-efficiency electrical contacts to MoS₂

Abstract Fermi-level pinning caused by the kinetic damage during metallization has been recognized as one of the major reasons for the non-ideal behavior of electrical contacts, forbidding reaching the Schottky–Mott limit. In this manuscript, we present a scalable technique wherein Indium, a low-work-function metal, is diffused to contact a few-layered MoS₂ flake. The technique exploits a smooth outflow of Indium over gold electrodes to make edge contacts to pre-transferred MoS₂ flakes. We compare the performance of three pairs of contacts made onto the same MoS₂ flake, the bottom-gold, top-gold, and Indium contacts, and find that the Indium contacts are superior to other contacts. The Indium contacts maintain linear I–V characteristics down to cryogenic temperatures with an extracted Schottky barrier height of ∼2.1 meV. First-principle calculations show the induced in-gap states close to the Fermi level, and the damage-free contact interface could be the reason for the nearly Ohmic behavior of the Indium/MoS₂ interface.