Controllable growth of wafer-scale PdS and PdS2 nanofilms via chemical vapor deposition combined with an electron beam evaporation technique

Abstract Palladium (Pd)-based sulfides have triggered extensive interest due to their unique properties and potential applications in the fields of electronics and optoelectronics. However, the synthesis of large-scale uniform PdS and PdS 2 nanofilms (NFs) remains an enormous challenge. In this work, 2-inch wafer-scale PdS and PdS 2 NFs with excellent stability can be controllably prepared via chemical vapor deposition combined with electron beam evaporation technique. The thickness of the pre-deposited Pd film and the sulfurization temperature are critical for the precise synthesis of PdS and PdS 2 NFs. A corresponding growth mechanism has been proposed based on our experimental results and Gibbs free energy calculations. The electrical transport properties of PdS and PdS 2 NFs were explored by conductive atomic force microscopy. Our findings have achieved the controllable growth of PdS and PdS 2 NFs, which may provide a pathway to facilitate PdS and PdS 2 based applications for next-generation high performance optoelectronic devices.