Oriented Growth of Gold Nanowires on MoS2

Layered 2D materials serve as a new class of substrates for templated synthesis of various nanomaterials even with highly dissimilar crystal structures; thus overcoming the lattice constraints of conventional epitaxial processes. Here, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is used as a prototypical model substrate for oriented growth of in-plane Au nanowires (NWs) despite the nearly 8% lattice mismatch between MoS2 and Au. Au NWs on the MoS2 surface are oriented along three symmetrically equivalent directions within the substrate arising from the strong Au-S binding that templates the oriented growth. The kinetics of the growth process are explored through experiments and modeling. Strong charge transfer is observed between Au NWs and MoS2, resulting in degenerate p-doping of MoS2.