Gold‐Autocatalyzed Synthesis of Multi‐Element Clusters on Monolayer MoS ₂ for the Manipulation of Photogenerated Carriers

Abstract For optoelectronic materials, the ability to detect light in a broad wavelength range is critical for practical applications and commercialization. According to previous studies of photodetectors based on monolayer MoS ₂ , manipulation of photogenerated carriers and broadband photodetection are exceedingly difficult. Herein, a rapid and mild gold‐autocatalyzed synthesis method is developed to fabricate multi‐element clusters (MECs) on monolayer MoS ₂ at room temperature to obtain a composite with radically modified properties. MECs can modulate the photogenerated carrier behavior and the electronic structure of MoS ₂ . Therefore, MECs/MoS ₂ exhibit a broadband photodetection range from 532 to 1550 nm (visible light‐near infrared), which is far beyond the bandgap limit of monolayer MoS ₂ (1.8 eV, cut‐off wavelength of about 690 nm), as well as rapid response/recovery processes (41.0/134.4 ms) and a reduced dark current. The strategy overcomes the high‐temperature requirment to mix multiple elements and offers new opportunities for monolayer MoS ₂ to become a promising material for next‐generation broadband optoelectronic devices.