Recent Advances in Spin-coating Precursor Mediated Chemical Vapor Deposition of Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have garnered widespread interest in the scientific community and industry for their exceptional physical and chemistry properties, and great potential for applications in diverse fields including (opto)electronics, electrocatalysis, and energy storage. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is one of the most compelling growth methods for the scalable growth of high-quality 2D TMDs. However, the conventional CVD process for synthesis of 2D TMDs still encounters significant challenges, primarily attributed to the high melting point of precursor powders, and achieving a uniform distribution of precursor atmosphere on the substrate to obtain controllable smaple domains is difficult. The spin-coating precursor mediated chemical vapor deposition (SCVD) strategy provides refinement over traditional methods by eliminating the use of solid precursors and ensuring a more clean and uniform distribution of the growth material on the substrate. Additionally, the SCVD process allows fine-tuning of material thickness and purity by manipulating solution composition, concentration, and the spin coating process. This Review presents a comprehensive summary of recent advances in controllable growth of 2D TMDs with a SCVD strategy. First, a series of various liquid precursors, additives, source supply methods, and substrate engineering strategies for preparing atomically thin TMDs by SCVD are introduced. Then, 2D TMDs heterostructures and novel doped TMDs fabricated through the SCVD method are discussed. Finally, the current challenges and perspectives to synthesize 2D TMDs using SCVD are discussed.