MoS₂-on-paper optoelectronics: Drawing photodetectors with van der Waals semiconductors beyond graphite

We fabricate paper-supported semiconducting devices by rubbing a layered molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) crystal onto a piece of paper, similar to the action of drawing/writing with a pencil on paper. We show that the abrasion between the MoS2 crystal and the paper substrate efficiently exfoliates the crystals, breaking the weak van der Waals interlayer bonds and leading to the deposition of a film of interconnected MoS2 platelets. Employing this simple method, which can be easily extended to other 2D materials, we fabricate MoS2-on-paper broadband photodetectors with spectral sensitivity from the ultraviolet (UV) to the near-infrared (NIR) range. We also used these paper-based photodetectors to acquire pictures of objects by mounting the photodetectors in a homebuilt single-pixel camera setup.