Solvent-assisted sulfur vacancy engineering method in MoS₂ for a neuromorphic synaptic memristor

Recently, two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) have attracted great attention due to their unique properties. To modulate the electronic properties and structure of TMDs, it is crucial to precisely control chalcogenide vacancies and several methods have already been suggested. However, they have several limitations such as plasma damage by ion bombardment. Herein, we introduced a novel solvent-assisted vacancy engineering (SAVE) method to modulate sulfur vacancies in MoS₂. Considering polarity and the Hansen solubility parameter (HSP), three solvents were selected. Sulfur vacancies can be modulated by immersing MoS₂ in each solvent, supported by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy analyses. The SAVE method can further expand its application in memory devices representing memristive performance and synaptic behaviors. We represented the charge transport mechanism of sulfur vacancy migration in MoS₂. The non-destructive, scalable, and novel SAVE method controlling sulfur vacancies is expected to be a guideline for constructing a vacancy engineering system of TMDs.