Absence of a Band Gap at the Interface of a Metal and Highly Doped Monolayer MoS₂

High quality electrical contact to semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) such as MoS₂ is key to unlocking their unique electronic and optoelectronic properties for fundamental research and device applications. Despite extensive experimental and theoretical efforts reliable ohmic contact to doped TMDCs remains elusive and would benefit from a better understanding of the underlying physics of the metal-TMDC interface. Here we present measurements of the atomic-scale energy band diagram of junctions between various metals and heavily doped monolayer MoS₂ using ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy (UHV-STM). Our measurements reveal that the electronic properties of these junctions are dominated by two-dimensional metal-induced gap states (MIGS). These MIGS are characterized by a spatially growing measured gap in the local density of states (L-DOS) of the MoS₂ within 2 nm of the metal-semiconductor interface. Their decay lengths extend from a minimum of ∼0.55 nm near midgap to as long as 2 nm near the band edges and are nearly identical for Au, Pd, and graphite contacts, indicating that it is a universal property of the monolayer semiconductor. Our findings indicate that even in heavily doped semiconductors, the presence of MIGS sets the ultimate limit for electrical contact.