Effects of plasma treatment on the electrical reliability of multilayer MoS2 field-effect transistors

Electric stability and recovery properties of multilayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) field-effect transistors (FETs) were investigated by plasma treatment via inductively coupled plasma and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) passivation. Plasma treatment is proposed as an efficient method for cleaning the surface of MoS2. The results indicate that performance degradation of MoS2 field-effect transistors owing to oxygen absorption is largely restored by the plasma treatment. It is also shown that PMMA passivation (7% chlorobenzene) degrades the performance of the MoS2 FET. The performance degradation of the device can be restored by the plasma treatment. It is suggested that high-density plasma treatment with minimized damage to the surface can be an efficient method of surface cleaning. These findings are especially important for the nanolithography and nanodevice fabrication of two-dimensional devices made of MoS2, graphene, etc., using PMMA resistors.