Synthesis of MoS₂ Thin Film by Ionized Jet Deposition: Role of Substrate and Working Parameters

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The current manuscript by Ghiami et al. demonstrated the ionized jet deposition technique to synthesize MoS₂ thin films at a bulk level. They have systematically studied the effect of annealing temperature, acceleration voltage, etc. on thin film deposition and the methods employed are appropriate. However, this reviewer has a few major concerns which need to be addressed, before the manuscript can be accepted for publication.

1. On page 3, the authors report the negative effect of using frequencies > 250, it would be appropriate to show the visual evidence (at least a photograph) of the target material.
2. Again, even during the voltage optimization, visual confirmations of the effect of voltages (12 V, >18V) will assist the audience to get a clear picture of the process.
3. In the XPS description (Figure 2) the authors write, “the high BE side shoulder gradually decreases with increasing temperature.” What is the significance of such change?
4. The reviewer strongly believes that the sample sintering temperature evaluation was performed after optimizing the accelerating voltage. In addition, the authors have chosen a 15 kV acceleration voltage for the sample deposition that was investigated for the sintering temperature effect. Hence, it would be more fitting to discuss the influence of voltage (section 3.2) before the temperature studies (section 3.1).
5. In the abstract and later sections, the authors identified 15 kV accelerating voltage to be the most efficient. But it is unclear why the authors chose to perform the morphological and structural analysis on samples deposited at 18 kV (Section 3.3).
6. Also, the XRD spectrum of the as-deposited film (noted as not shown) is suggested to be included in figure 4a for a better comparison.
7. The statement “However, since any oxide species of molybdenum have been revealed in XPS analysis (see Figure 2d 222 and 3a), the Raman peak at ~225 cm-1 can undoubtedly be assigned to the presence of defects.” is very confusing. (Page 7)
8. What is the rationale behind using 12 kV voltage for the samples used for UPS investigation?

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Amir Ghiami et al., have successfully narrated the work on "Synthesis of MoS2 Thin Film by Ionized Jet Deposition: Role of Substrate and Working Parameters". This work is extremely important. Also, the work is well written and organized.

This paper can be accepted as it is. 

 

Author Response

We are pleased that the reviewer thinks highly of the manuscript and consider it suitable for publication in Surfaces, and we appreciate the constructive comments.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have addressed all of the reviewer's concerns satisfactorily and revised the manuscript appropriately. Hence, I recommend its publication in the current form.