Growth and optical properties of Nb-doped WS2 monolayers

Abstract

We report the chemical vapor deposition growth of Nb-doped WS2 monolayers and their characterization. Electron microscopy observations reveal that the Nb atom was substituted at the W site at a rate of approximately 0.5%. Unlike Mo doping, Nb-doped samples have photoluminescence (PL) peaks at 1.4-1.6 eV at room temperature. The peak energies are lower than the optical bandgap of 1.8 eV, and a saturation behavior of PL intensity is observed with the increase in excitation power. These results indicate that the observed PL peaks are assignable to the emission from impurity states generated by the substitution of Nb.