All-on-surface two-dimensional confined growth of wafer-scale MoS 2

Abstract Wafer-scale growth of MoS 2 underpins the development of next-generation electronic devices (Jiang et al 2025 Nat. Mater . 24 188–196; Li et al 2021 Nat. Nanotechnol. 16 1201–7; Liu et al 2025 Nat. Mater . 24 1195–202; Liu et al 2022 Nature 605 69–75; Li et al 2024 Nat. Commun. 15 1825; Ao et al 2025 Nature 640 654–61; Ghosh et al 2025 Nature 642 327–35). High-quality, large MoS 2 single crystals have been obtained using a newly developed molten-liquid interface growth method (Jiang et al 2025 Nat. Mater . 24 188–96; Xie 2025 Sci. China Mater. 68 2143–44). However, the vapor-phase precursor delivery of this method remains prone to non-uniform precursor distribution, thereby narrowing the growth window. Here, we report an all-on-surface two-dimensional confined growth (as-2DCG) method for the wafer-scale synthesis of monolayer MoS 2 . Using precursor engineering, this method directly employs high-purity MoS 2 powder as a solid precursor instead of conventional volatile MoO 3 , and pairs it with an atomically smooth molten-glass substrate. The MoS 2 undergoes etching, liquid 2D spreading and in-plane crystallization, forming a continuous MoS 2 film. Importantly, this all-on-surface reaction circumvents the non-uniformities of vapor-phase transport, enabling a continuous, homogeneous supply of the molybdenum precursor across the substrate. Consequently, this all-on-surface reaction significantly widens the growth window and improves growth uniformity. Field-effect transistors fabricated from this film exhibit high electrical performance, including on/off up to 10 7 and device yields exceeding 90%. This robust, scalable growth route paves the way for the industrial integration of 2D semiconductors into next-generation large-area electronic and logic circuits.