Rapid, versatile, and reliable metrology for multi-layer transition metal dichalcogenide thin films using atomic force microscopy to investigate surface grain distributions
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Date
2025-09-23
Authors
Tonon, Alessandro
Gupta, Aashi
Di Russo, Enrico
Sheehan, Brendan
Metaxa, Pavlina
Arifutzzaman, A.
Connolly, J.
Lin, Jun
Povey, Ian M.
Sgarbossa, Francesco
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AIP Publishing
Published Version
Abstract
Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has garnered significant attention among 2D materials, demonstrating great potential for electronics and optoelectronics. Although numerous growth techniques have been explored, a definitive solution for large-area film fabrication remains elusive. Moreover, comparing thin-films obtained through different techniques is not straightforward. Particularly, analyzing grain size across samples is challenging, making it difficult to clearly correlate growth conditions with the resulting crystal structure. In this letter, we developed an approach based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) morphology measurements to analyze nanograins in large-area thin-films obtained through relevant growth techniques such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and sputter deposition followed by pulsed laser annealing (PLA). To address the challenges in comparing thin-films grown by different methods, we propose a robust approach based on statistical grain analysis. By combining well-established investigation tools, such as AFM, with advanced watershed-segmentation algorithms, we demonstrate a reliable method for identifying grains and grain boundaries. This approach allows for a robust and quantitative comparison of film morphology across different growth conditions, providing a crucial benchmark for evaluating and differentiating various growth methods.
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Keywords
Surface grain distributions , Molybdenum disulfide , MoS2 , 2D materials , Large-area film fabrication , Atomic force microscopy , Chemical vapor deposition
Citation
Tonon, A., Gupta, A., Di Russo, E., Sheehan, B., Metaxa, P., Arifutzzaman, A., Connolly, J., Lin, J., Povey, I., Sgarbossa, F., De Salvador, D., Napolitani, E. and Duffy, R. (2025) ‘Rapid, versatile, and reliable metrology for multi-layer transition metal dichalcogenide thin films using atomic force microscopy to investigate surface grain distributions’, Applied Physics Letters, 127(12), 123102 (8pp). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0276152
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© 2025, AIP Publishing. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. The following article appeared in Tonon, A., Gupta, A., Di Russo, E., Sheehan, B., Metaxa, P., Arifutzzaman, A., Connolly, J., Lin, J., Povey, I., Sgarbossa, F., De Salvador, D., Napolitani, E. and Duffy, R. (2025) ‘Rapid, versatile, and reliable metrology for multi-layer transition metal dichalcogenide thin films using atomic force microscopy to investigate surface grain distributions’, Applied Physics Letters, 127(12), 123102 (8pp). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0276152 and may be found at https://pubs-aip-org.ucc.idm.oclc.org/aip/apl/article/127/12/123102/3364340/Rapid-versatile-and-reliable-metrology-for-multi.