ESR identification of the nitrogen acceptor in 2H-polytype synthetic MoS2: Dopant level and activation

Multi-frequency electron spin resonance (ESR) study of p-type synthetic 2H MoS2 reveals a previously unreported signal of axial-symmetry [g// = 2.032(2); g⊥ = 2.270(2)] characteristic for a hole-type center in MoS2. It is identified as originating from N acceptor dopants, the N atoms substituting for S sites, with a density of ∼2.3 x 1017 cm-3, thus predominantly accounting for the p-type sample doping. For the applied magnetic field along the c-axis, the signal is mainly comprised of a 14N hyperfine 1:1:1 triplet of splitting A// = 14.7 ± 0.2 G with, on top, a center line accounting for ∼26% of the total signal intensity. The additional observation of a weak half-field signal (g = 3.92) correlating with the main full-field Zeeman response points to the presence of spin S ≥ 1 N agglomerates. The overall signal properties indicate that only ∼74% of the N acceptors occur as isolated decoupled dopants. Monitoring of the ESR signal intensity over a broad temperature range unveils the N dopant as a shallow acceptor of activation energy Ea = 45 ± 7 meV, thus well fit for stable substitutional p-type doping in MoS2-based novel nanoelectronic devices.