Enhanced visibility of MoS2, MoSe2, WSe2 and black-phosphorus: Making optical identification of 2D semiconductors easier

Abstract

We explore the use of Si3N4/Si substrates as a substitute of the standard SiO2/Si substrates employed nowadays to fabricate nanodevices based on 2D materials. We systematically study the visibility of several 2D semiconducting materials that are attracting a great deal of interest in nanoelectronics and optoelectronics: MoS2, MoSe2, WSe2 and black-phosphorus. We find that the use of Si3N4/Si substrates provides an increase of the optical contrast up to a 50%–100% and also the maximum contrast shifts towards wavelength values optimal for human eye detection, making optical identification of 2D semiconductors easier.