A study of the behavior of Fe and Ni on MoS2

A correlation of AES and work function measurements of Fe and Ni on MoS₂ indicated that, near room temperature of MoS₂ and low coverage, Fe and Ni formed islands. With increasing coverage the Fe-islands were developed to 3-D small particles, while Ni-islands needed higher temperature for this development. The average size and density of the particles depended on the substrate temperature. Beyond a certain size the Fe-particles began to act catalytically on an interaction of the subsequently deposited Fe with S atoms of the top layer of MoS₂. The Ni particles remained clean up to 800 K and did not interact with S.