Effects of temperature and ion-to-atom ratio on the orientation of IBAD MoS2 coatings

MoS₂ coatings, 55–800 nm thick, were grown by ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) using different ion-to-atom ratios and deposition temperatures. Crystallinity and orientation of the IBAD MoS₂ coatings were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Only XRD peaks corresponding to (00l), (hk0), and amorphous MoS₂, and a previously unreported low-2Θ peak (2Θ ≈ 10.7 °) were observed. The basal (002) peak intensities varied primarily with ion-to-atom ratio; the greatest basal intensity occurred when the ion-to-atom ratio produced about 1 displacement per atom. Although a secondary factor in basal intensity, deposition temperature was the primary factor in edge (100) intensity. Edge intensity increased with increasing temperature; it appears that the increases are due to annealing of randomly-oriented MoS₂, which converts to edge orientation. The origin of the low-2Θ peak is unknown, but appears to be associated with the basal planes of MoS₂.