Article Self-aligned and self-limiting van der Waals epitaxy of monolayer MoS2 for scalable 2D electronics

Yoshiki Sakuma SAMURAI ORCID (National Institute for Materials Science) ; Keisuke Atsumi ; Takanobu Hiroto SAMURAI ORCID (National Institute for Materials Science) ; Jun Nara SAMURAI ORCID (National Institute for Materials Science) ; Akihiro Ohtake SAMURAI ORCID (National Institute for Materials Science) ; Yuki Ono ; Takashi Matsumoto ; Yukihiro Muta ; Kai Takeda ; Emi Kano ; Toshiki Yasuno ; Xu Yang ; Nobuyuki Ikarashi ; Asato Suzuki ; Michio Ikezawa ; Shuhong Li ; Tomonori Nishimura ; Kaito Kanahashi ; Kosuke Nagashio

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Yoshiki Sakuma, Keisuke Atsumi, Takanobu Hiroto, Jun Nara, Akihiro Ohtake, Yuki Ono, Takashi Matsumoto, Yukihiro Muta, Kai Takeda, Emi Kano, Toshiki Yasuno, Xu Yang, Nobuyuki Ikarashi, Asato Suzuki, Michio Ikezawa, Shuhong Li, Tomonori Nishimura, Kaito Kanahashi, Kosuke Nagashio. Self-aligned and self-limiting van der Waals epitaxy of monolayer MoS2 for scalable 2D electronics. Nature Communications. 2026, 17 (1), 602. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68320-8

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(abstract)

Unidirectional nucleation followed by seamless stitching has emerged as a promising strategy for the scalable epitaxial growth of single-crystalline monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides on sapphire substrates, which hold potential for post-silicon electronics. In contrast, here we present a different growth mechanism for single-crystalline MoS2 on c-plane sapphire via metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). We show that the initial nucleation generates not only 0° and antiparallel 60° domains but also low-angle twisted domains, consistent with the coincidence site lattice framework. However, these rotationally misoriented domains are observed to deterministically self-align and merge into energetically preferred 0° domain during coalescence, yielding a continuous, unidirectional single-crystal. Additionally, by employing MoO2Cl2 as a molybdenum precursor, we demonstrate that the growth of MoS2 occurs in a self-limiting manner. This epitaxial strategy is substantiated by a carrier mobility of 66 cm2/Vs at room temperature and 749 cm2/Vs at low temperatures. Our approach offers a practical and reproducible scheme for MOCVD-based van der Waals epitaxy for 2D electronics.

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Keyword: MoS2, epitaxial growth, MOCVD

Date published: 2026-01-21

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Journal:

  • Nature Communications (ISSN: 20411723) vol. 17 issue. 1 602

Funding:

  • MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science JP21H05237
  • MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science JP21H05232
  • MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science JP22H04957
  • MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science JP17H03241
  • MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science JP23K04592
  • MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science JP23K03272
  • MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science JP22K04212
  • MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science JP23K13622
  • MEXT | JST | Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology JPMJCR24A3

Manuscript type: Publisher's version (Version of record)

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First published URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68320-8

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Updated at: 2026-01-29 16:30:04 +0900

Published on MDR: 2026-01-29 13:54:41 +0900

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