  A general method was developed to intercalate metals under layered materials
through a controlled density of sputtered defects. The method has been already
applied to study a range of metals intercalated under graphite and different
types of morphologies were realized. In the current work, we extend the method
to the study of intercalation under MoS2 noting that work on this system is
rather limited. We use Cu as the prototype metal for comparison with Cu
intercalation under graphite. Although the growth conditions needed for
intercalation under graphite and MoS2 are similar, the type of intercalated
phases is very different. Each Cu island which nucleates on top of MoS2 during
Cu deposition provides material that is transferred below MoS2, through
sputtered defects under the island base; this transfer results in a uniform
intercalated Cu "carpet" morphology that extends over the mesoscale. On the
contrary, Cu intercalation under graphite results in well separated, compact
islands formed by monomer detachment from small Cu islands on top and transfer
below through defects far from the islands. The structural techniques (scanning
electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy) and spectroscopic techniques
(x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy) are used
for the characterization of the intercalated Cu layer.
