Graphene Replacement
The Institute for Basic Science (IBS) announced on January 14 that Chemistry Department Professor Choi Hee-cheol at POSTECH and his research team developed a method for the synthesis of molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) using a gold catalyst. He is currently heading the Center for Artificial Low Dimensional Electronic Systems at IBS.
According to the institute, the new method allows MoS2 to be synthesized within a large area and any desired geometrical shape, and to be produced in the form of a semiconductor device.
The research team succeeded in synthesizing and separating MoS2 to the thickness of one atom using the principle that a surface alloy is formed through the separation of molybdenum atoms and mixing them with gold when a chemical compound containing molybdenum is injected onto the surface of gold. It is considered to be a more developed method than simple deposition.
“It is expected that MoS2 will be able to be further utilized in the semiconductor industry for the manufacturing of bent and transparent electronic devices,” the team explained, adding, “Also, it is a layered semiconducting material, although somewhat similar in structure to graphene, which is a conductor, and thus is predicted to be in wider use in a variety of fields such as solar cells, low-power transistors, flexible displays, and transparent electronic devices.”
The research result is available in the online edition and the inside back cover of the January edition of the Angewandte Chemie, a renowned international chemistry journal.