Comprehensive benchmarking and user guide for the characterization of CVD-grown transition metal chalcogenides

Since the discovery of graphene in 2004, there has been rapid progress in research on two-dimensional (2D) material’s potential applications with significant impact. Efforts to bring 2D materials closer to industrial production, quality assessment, and standardization still need to be expanded upon. This remains challenging because sophisticated analytics techniques are required to analyze a limited amount of material with high variability due to differences in the synthesis process and the lack of a clear standard for comparing results. Modern methods can evaluate domain size, surface coverage, defects, dopants, mobility, and photoluminescence parameters. Still, it is challenging to understand the structure–property relationship due to external influences such as adsorbates and strain, which can alter results. To address this problem, the Graphene Flagship project conducted an extensive benchmarking study of monolayer molybdenum disulfide grown through chemical vapor deposition by various groups. The study employed a variety of techniques to characterize the material, including optical and transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and capacitance-voltage measurements. Herein, we present the results of this comprehensive study and the correlation between various methods