Controllable Growth of Monolayer and Bilayer WSe2 by Liquid-Phase Precursor via Chemical Vapor Deposition for Photodetection

Two-dimensional WSe₂ nanosheets have received increasing attention due to their excellent optoelectronic properties. Solid precursors, such as WO₃ and Se powders, have been extensively employed to grow WSe₂ nanosheets by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. However, the high melting point of WO₃ results in heterogeneous nucleation sites and nonuniform growth of the WSe₂ nanosheet. By dissolving WO₃ powder in a NaOH solution, we report a facile and uniform growth of monolayer and bilayer WSe₂ nanosheets on a SiO₂/Si substrate at a large scale using liquid precursor by the CVD method. The size and thickness of the WSe₂ nanosheets were controlled by modulating the precursor concentration and growth temperature. The as-prepared monolayer and bilayer WSe₂ nanosheets were well characterized by optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy. With the increase in precursor concentration, the size of the monolayer WSe₂ increased up to 120 μm. Bilayer WSe₂ nanosheets were grown at higher temperatures. The photosensitivity of the bilayer WSe₂ was one order of magnitude higher than that of the monolayer WSe₂. The carrier mobility, specific detectivity, photoresponsivity, and external quantum efficiency of the bilayer WSe₂ were about two orders of magnitude higher than those of the monolayer WSe₂. Our method opens up a new avenue to grow monolayer and bilayer WSe₂ for optoelectronic applications.